This Memory of Us
by The Erumpent Horn
Summary: Ginrius. When Ginny realises she likes Sirius as a little more than a friend, she explores her flirtatious side to find him responsive. Showing their relationship from the start of OotP and onwards. M for some language and citrus. Don't like? Don't read.
1. Midnight Meeting

**I'm back!  
>This is the fic that has had me tearing my hair out in my free time, because of the fact that I had started it before my laptop wiped, and I had to restart it. So I've been writing this since about October 2011, and I have to tell you now: <em>THIS FIC IS COMPLETE<em>! I just need to upload all the chapters, which I will do once a week, on a Tuesday. ****During the week (Wednesday to Monday), I will be editing the chapter I am about to upload, so that it is as perfect as I can get it for you.**

**DISCLAIMER: This is going for the entirety of the fic, so I'm not gonna stick it on every chapter - you don't wanna see it. I am no the almighty J.K. Rowling, I do not own Harry Potter, the characters (except the ones I have created) or settings, etc. and I am not making any money from this.**

**Sorry for such a long A/N, I'll let you enjoy now.**

* * *

><p>I remember it like it was yesterday. That midnight that I walked into the kitchen in number 12, Grimmauld Place in a vest and shorts to get a glass of water. I remember seeing him sat at the kitchen table, drinking a Firewhiskey. He spat it out when he saw me stumble in, because little did I know, my vest had ridden up to just under my boobs, so my hips and stomach were quite clearly on show, until the waistband of my sleep-shorts. I'd smiled at him sleepily and said hi, and he'd just stared at me.<p>

"Sirius? I said hello." I said. I shook myself then, and worry filled my mind. _Oh Merlin, I've not come down naked, have I?_ I thought, mortification already filling me and I looked down, scared of what I might see. Nope, not naked, thank Merlin. What Merlin's name was he staring at then? He coughed a little. My gaze flickered downwards and I realised how much skin I had on show, so I quickly righted my tank top so that a lot less skin was on show. I looked up at him and smiled, blushing. The corners of his lips twitched upwards in a very small smile and despite his twelve years in Azkaban, he was gorgeous.

"Er, hi Ginevra."

"Ginny." I replied irritably. I hated the name 'Ginevra', thought I noted that it sounded almost pleasant when he said it.

"What?" Sirius looked confused, and his gaze kept flickering down my body, even though I'd covered myself up a little more. He knocked back the amber liquid and poured himself another glass before drinking more slowly.

"Never mind. Are you okay?" I asked quietly, gazing at him intently. His liquid silver eyes gazed back, daring me to say something about his drinking. I swallowed nervously, but didn't lower my eyes.

"Yeah. What are you doing down here? It's quarter past 12 at night. You should be in bed," said Sirius. His deep, beautiful voice had taken on a curiously overprotective edge. I wasn't ashamed to say that I smirked, ever so slightly.

"I was thirsty, and it woke me up, so I came down to get some water. I'll be out of your way in a minute, don't worry." I said, walking over to the cupboard and stretching up on my tiptoes to reach for a glass, before filling it with ice cold water. As I stretched, I heard Sirius' breath hitch and I frowned.

"No, you don't have to go, it's fine. Here, put my cloak on though, it's cold down here." Sirius smiled and patted the seat next to him. I grinned back, despite myself, and sat down with my water. He shook his onyx hair out of his grey eyes and handed me a dusty black cloak, which I gratefully put around my shoulders. I sniffed it inconspicuously and smiled to myself. The thick material smelled like him; Firewhiskey and Paprika. I looked up at Sirius, took in his pale face, slightly hollowed cheeks (even after my mum's cooking) and his stubble. Though he was only in his thirties, his hair was starting to turn silver. He was still as beautiful as his twenty-year-old self, though it was in a more mature, haunted way. He was like one of those tragic characters from one of Hermione's Muggle 'classics'.

"So how comes _you're_ down here then?" I asked Sirius with interest.

"Couldn't sleep. Nightmares."

"Ah." I said, not quite sure how to reply. Sirius and I had never spoken outside of the same old 'hi' and 'bye' conversations. The sort of conversations you have with people just to be polite, because there's no one else around to talk to or distract your reluctant conversational partner.

"Ginevra, how old are you now?" Sirius asked. I had the distinct feeling he was fishing for something different to talk about. I dropped my gaze to the ebony table and spotted a tiny carving in the wood. Forgetting about the man beside me, I peered at the table a lot more closely and upon inspection, I realised that the carving was a tiny name: Sirius. Tracing the name with my fingertips and feeling the jagged edges of the writing, I glanced back up at my companion with a wide grin on my face and his expression was expectant, even as a small smile lit up his face. I thought back to what he'd asked me.

"Oh! Fourteen in a month," I said glumly, my smile fading from my face. I was always the youngest, no matter where I was or what I did. I flapped the cloak a little, because it was actually rather hot, but considering that Sirius had requested I wear it, I did as I was bid.

"So young," said Sirius with wonder. His eyes were apparently drawn to my hot cheeks and I self-consciously raised a hand to brush at my left cheekbone with my fingertips. "What's that on your nails?"

"Pardon? Oh! It's some nail paint that I got Hermione to buy for me. A couple of the girls in my dorm are Muggle-borns, and they are constantly putting it on and taking it off. I thought I'd give it a go and see what all the fuss was about. I rather like the colour, don't you?" I said, splaying my fingers out to show him the deep burgundy I had painted my nails. Hermione had encouraged me to grow my nails out, and I absolutely loved them.

"They are beautiful." Sirius said reverently, and I blushed even as I beamed at him.

"So, do you want to talk about anything in particular?" I asked tentatively.

Sirius frowned. "If you don't want to stay, you are more than welcome to go back to bed. It is stupidly late."

"No!" I exclaimed quickly. A little too quickly for my own liking if you asked me, and as I blushed an even darker red, a sexy half-smile played at Sirius' lips. I swallowed nervously. "I just meant that if there were something bothering you, you could always talk to me about it. I'd never tell a soul. I'm good at keeping secrets, as I learnt the hard way."

Sirius had looked surprised at the dark, bitter tone my voice had taken on. "I thank you for the offer, and perhaps I will share all of my troubles to you one day, but tonight is not the night. I am curious to know what secrets you've got so closely guarded, though."

I smirked at the older man and rolled my eyes. "I said I was good at keeping secrets, and trust me, I don't lie. Maybe one day, when you want to tell me your troubles, I'll tell you mine. As much as I would like to tell you, I'd prefer if there was a mutual level of trust between us."

"Touché, young Ginevra. You're a lot more mature than one would expect. For a girl of thirteen, you're very wise and witty." He raised his glass of Firewhiskey in a mock toast to me and knocked it back. I smiled sardonically and rose from my seat beside him.

"Yeah well, thank you. And as much as I would love to sit here and watch you get drunk off your ass, you are right – it's late. I'll be heading back to bed now. Good night, Sirius, and thank you for talking to me." I said, and gently squeezed his shoulder, which my hand had been resting on.

"You are more than welcome. Sleep well, Ginevra." Sirius replied, tipping an invisible hat to me before turning his attention to the half-empty bottle of alcohol on the table. I had shaken my head and gone upstairs to bed, where I had promptly fallen asleep with a small smile on my face.

The next day, Hermione arrived at number 12, Grimmauld Place, and I was thanking Merlin that she had because I felt almost suffocated by men in the house. The moment she had put her stuff in the room next to mine, she had knocked on my door.

"Gin, are you in here?" Hermione's voice asked from the other side. I was reading Standard Book of Spells, Grade 4 (a hand-me-down from Hermione herself) on my bed, trying to learn some of the spells before I got to school – a very Hermione trait, I thought to myself – but I threw the book aside carelessly to make a mad dash to the door and yank it open.

"Oh thank Merlin you're here! I've missed you. What's been going on in the Muggle world? How's Harry? Ron's not telling me anything, you see, and after Cedric..." I trailed off there. Cedric Diggory's death had had a profound effect on not only Hogwarts, but the entire Wizarding World. Most of the World was believing the crap that Fudge and the Ministry was saying – that Cedric's death was a 'tragic accident', and that Harry (and therefore Dumbledore) was lying about Tom Riddle being back. I hugged Hermione again, and smelled her blueberry scented shampoo when her frizzy, yet significantly tamed hair tickled my face.

"Oh, Ginny. Harry's not too good. He's losing patience with Dumbledore, and with Sirius. Ron told me a little about the Order in his letter, but I want to find out more. Dumbledore found out that I knew, of course, and he's forbidden everyone from telling Harry a thing. I have the utmost faith in Dumbledore, but I really don't think he should be hiding this from Harry. Harry more than anyone has a right to know what's going on after what happened to Cedric in that graveyard. Nothing much has been going on in the Muggle world really, but I did tell my parents what happened. They didn't want me to come back, but I told them that safest place I could possibly be right now is at Hogwarts. But how are you?"

"Okay, I suppose. We've been trying to make this place liveable, you see. It doesn't look like much, but when we first arrived, it was awful. We came here three days after we came home from Hogwarts. Mum was surprised that school ended early, but honestly, what did she expect. A student hasn't died in Hogwarts Castle for over fifty years, and I'm the last one that came close. Anyway, pretty much the only thing we've done is clean. Have you seen Sirius yet?" I asked, when we were both sat on the bed.

"Nope, there's a meeting going on. Your mum is pretty much the only person I've seen, except Remus, who brought me here." Hermione said, popping the 'p' on 'nope'. She looked around. "So what is this place then? Who does it belong to?"

"Funnily enough – Sirius." I replied, grinning at the look of sheer disbelief on her face.

"_Sirius_ owns this house? What? But if he had a house, why didn't he just-"

"Hide here? I'm not sure, to be honest, but I think that his ownership of this house was in question. Not to mention that he hates this place because it's his childhood home. But he is the very last of the Black family. We're related to him, as is Harry, because all of the pure-blood families are interrelated, but he is the very last of the Black name." I said quietly. I had only recently found out about it myself, after some small exploration of the house. There was a room with a magnificent tapestry in it, and it was a family tree of sorts. I was fascinated by it.

"How do you know?" Hermione asked.

"I'll show you tomorrow." I said, smiling, before we began to discuss at length everything that had happened last year at Hogwarts. After about an hour, Sirius popped his head round the door.

"Hello, girls. I've-"

"Sirius!" Hermione cried, and she launched herself into his arms, laughing. I watched as my closest girl friend hugged the fugitive tightly, and I smiled when he shot me a bemused look, though he hugged her back anyway.

"Hi there, Hermione. You alright?" He asked her, gently disentangling himself from her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. And you?" She asked. His only reply was to pull a face that looked like he'd just sucked on a lemon, and Hermione and I both giggled.

"Your mum says that dinner's ready, so if you two want to come down, I'll get the boys." Sirius said, smiling at us before leaving the room and heading up the stairs. I shrugged at Hermione and we went downstairs to dinner.

Two nights later, Harry Potter arrived in the Black family house, and I only knew that because about seven people had been assigned to getting him here safely, and the fact that about three minutes after he arrived, he started trying to shout the house down. The shouting stopped when the unmistakable sound of Apparition rang out, and I decided that perhaps it was safe to go downstairs. I left my room and crept down a floor where Ron and Harry were sharing a room.

"What's got your wand in a knot, Harry?" I asked, pushing open the door.

"Nothing," replied Harry curtly. "I hear this is the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix."

"You're well informed."

"Took long enough," said Harry bitterly, but he smiled at me anyway, for the first time in over a year. "How are you, Ginny?"

"Not too bad, aside from the fact that my fingertips feel like they've been burnt to the bone. You'll understand tomorrow, when we get set on the drawing room." I said, and everyone else in the room except Harry groaned.

"What are you on about?" He asked.

"Cleaning," said Fred and George together, before they Disapparated from the room.

"_Cleaning?_"

* * *

><p>"Ginny, will you stop flicking Doxy eggs at me?" Ron snapped angrily. I laughed, as did my twin brothers, Fred and George. Harry caught my eye and smiled softly while he liberally sprayed the curtains. He and Hermione had both arrived within the week, and I had snuck down to the kitchen twice more to talk to Sirius in the middle of the night. He was still drinking quite heavily, and not really to my surprise, the conversations were becoming more and more personal. However, I increasingly found that I was counting down the minutes to my next meeting with the handsome fugitive; though I couldn't seem to work out why. Perhaps it was the way both our lives had been tainted by Tom Riddle.<p>

I turned my mind back to the task at hand just in time to spot a Doxy flying at me. Before I could spray it, though, it fell to my feet, unconscious. I whirled around and saw Sirius wink at me as he continued spraying the angry, fly-like creatures as they flew out of the curtains in the drawing room.

"Thanks," I said to him, and he nodded his agreement. We continued spraying glumly, and laughed while Fred and George cracked jokes to try and speed up the time. After a while, no more Doxies flew out of the folds of the curtains, and they hung silent and damp. We all trooped out of the drawing room and walked downstairs, where Mum had dinner already on the table. Naturally, she was stuffing Harry with more food than he could possibly eat, and as he tucked in to a ridiculously large slice of treacle tart, I let my mind stray to the man sitting next to me... Sirius Black. It seemed that I just couldn't stop thinking about him, and just as I was thinking about how soft his lips looked, he smirked down at me, making me jump and blush.

"You look guilty, Ginevra," observed Sirius wryly. I shrugged nonchalantly and broke off a forkful of treacle tart. I thought about my actions and wondered if I should perhaps give him a show. He seemed to be interested, and he was constantly flirting with me, if I wasn't misreading the situation. I waged an internal battle against myself, really and truly wondering whether he'd realised he was being flirtatious or whether it was just an accident. After a few moments, I made up my mind, so knowing he was watching, I slowly raised the fork to my lips and pulled the bit of tart off. I heard Sirius' breath hitch in his throat again, the way he had done a week ago when I'd stretched up to get that glass... I smirked when I heard Sirius clear his throat and felt him fidget next to me.

"Definitely guilty," I muttered, and he choked on his wine. I looked at him mock quizzically, while the rest of the table stared at him and he shook his beautiful head. After seeing that he was fine, everyone else returned to their conversations, though Harry kept darting worried glances at him. "Tell me later?" He nodded.

"Right, everyone, it's time for bed. It's late and we've got to finish clearing out the drawing room tomorrow. Good night." Mum's voice was kind but firm, and we knew she meant business, so Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and I stood and went up to bed as slowly as we could without being obvious. Fred and George suggested trying the Extendible Ears again, but I shook my head.

"I told you, it won't work. Mum's put an Impervius Charm on the door. I've been trying to flick all sorts of things at it for the past week. She's definitely caught on to what we were doing. Bloody Crookshanks made sure of that." I muttered. There were groans all round, and I could have sworn that Ron said "that bloody furball!"

"Hang on, how do you know there's a Charm on it?" George asked.

"Because Tonks taught me how to check. I keep flicking things at the door, and they fly away, as if they're repelled by it. Try it sometime and you'll see what I mean. That's why the Ears aren't working, you see?"

After we all split off to go to our respective rooms, I spent nearly an hour preparing myself for 'bed', including washing my face meticulously, brushing my teeth and brushing my hair until it was poker-straight. I even re-painted my nails, because they'd gotten chipped when I was flicking Doxy eggs at Ron. After I had done all that, I sat in a chair in the corner and counted down the hours until I could sneak downstairs to see Sirius.

* * *

><p><strong>Well? What do you think? Leave me a review, and let me know what you think. If you don't like it, don't be an ass about it, because I will just delete the review.<br>****If you want to know about any other projects I plan to start working on, PM me.**

**Til next time!**

**Lottie.**


	2. Firewhiskey

**Hello Chapter 2! I got a few reviews on the last chapter, which I am so pleased about, because they were all rather nice reviews. I also need to thank a few readers:**

**teddyandlilyforever, candy and sugar, and paulaa90 for adding this fic to their favourite stories. I really hope I don't disappoint - and thank you.**

**Snaluck, BekaRoo, paulaa90, Moony's Black, and Mossyrock for adding this to their Story Alert. I'm really glad you liked it enough to want to, so thank you very much.**

**I hope you enjoy this. :)**

* * *

><p>I heard her softly padding down the hallway. After all that time on the run from the Ministry as Snuffles, my senses had been heightened somewhat. Without turning to look at her, I said, "I thought you would have been too tired to come down and see me." Ginevra looked at me with a question on her pretty features, and I smiled at her in return. When she came to sit next to me, I was enveloped in her flowery scent and it was intoxicating, but I loved it. I wondered when I had started craving her presence, but I found that I just couldn't remember, though it didn't bother me as much. I looked at her, and noticed that she had covered up for me again, wearing long cotton trousers instead of those tantalisingly minuscule shorts she had worn the first time she had seen me here. "I just thought it had been a long day. And you've had to wait up for three hours to come down to me."<p>

"Sirius, I'd tell you if I was too tired. Besides, I'm not so heartless that I'd let you sit here alone, drinking your life away. I care about you," she said. Her gaze didn't waver from my face, even as her small, delicate hand dropped to her pyjama bottoms, where she fiddled with a bit of loose thread. My mind went into overdrive as I considered the last part of her little speech. She _cared_ about me? I thought it was just mindless, unknowing flirting. I didn't think she knew how appealing she was. I didn't know she thought I was appealing. I mentally scolded myself mentally. Of course she didn't. She meant because I was Harry's Godfather. I was over thinking things, like Lily and Marlene used to do at school.

I looked away before replying, "I care about you too, Ginevra. So... do you want a glass of Firewhiskey?"

"I've never tried it before."

"In that case, you'll probably choke." I teased her, smiling warmly. For the first time in a long time, I felt truly happy looking at her. I ran my hand through my hair, the same way that James used to, but it fell back over my face. She looked at me for a long moment. I watched as her small hand reached forward, with her perfect burgundy fingernails, to move a thick curl away from my face. She gently tucked it behind my ear, and my skin tingled where her fingers had brushed it, oh so lightly. "Ginevra..." I whispered hoarsely. I felt as lost as I had just hours before, when she had made eating treacle tart a very sexual action. I still didn't know whether that was intentional or not, though I was more inclined to the former. Her hand was still on my cheek. Without thinking of the repercussions, I let my hand rise to cover hers. Her skin was so warm and soft, and as my fingers closed around hers, her fingernails pressed lightly into my cheek. The action seemed to drop straight to a bit of my flesh that hadn't responded since I last saw Remus' naked body in his shower over fourteen years before. That was twelve years before he told me that he didn't love me the same way any more and to just forget everything that ever happened between us. It took me two years to get over my first (much to everyone's sheer disbelief at the time) lover, but I sure as hell did it, and now a thirteen year old girl was making me rock hard. The thought made me internally cringe, because it made me sound like an awful cradle snatcher. _You are_, said that betraying voice in my head. I ignored it and focussed back on her.

"Sirius, tell me you don't want this, and I won't pursue it, I swear on my magic." Ginevra spoke quietly, but it felt as though she'd yelled it in my face, and her voice was strangely pleading.

"I... I do want this. I really, really do, but you are under-age. You're thirteen years old, Ginevra. I won't take your innocence." I said firmly, regretting the words as soon as they had left my lips. I knew I was right though, so I didn't back down. Not to mention, I had my pride. I wasn't about to retract my words seconds after I'd said them. Maybe a day or two, but not seconds later.

Her face turned hard, and she wrenched her hand from under mine, dragging her nails down my cheek as she did. "I've not been innocent since I was raped by Voldemort in the Chamber of Secrets. Don't you dare tell me about innocence, Sirius Black."

I flinched back in shock. Chamber of Secrets? That was just a legend, I could have sworn it was. I had heard that it had all gone down thirty years before I started Hogwarts, but I thought it was just another rumour, or an old wives tale. I was astounded. And Voldemort. This girl had been through much more than I could have even imagined, and it made me even more fascinated by her. A history like that is never something I would have guessed for her.

"First Year, Sirius. I was raped when I was eleven years old." Ginevra's voice cracked as she spoke bitterly, and I felt something die within me.

"Ginevra... I had no idea. But still, no matter how much I want you, how much I need you, I will not do this. I'm still a fugitive." I said, trying to make her understand. The only flaw to my reasoning was that she was a Weasley, and they all had the same middle name – _stubborn_.

"You think I don't know this? You think I care about any of it?"

"I thought you weren't going to pursue it," I snapped. It was getting harder and harder to listen to reason; I considered just packing it in and saying the magic word: yes.

"No, I said I wouldn't pursue it if you _didn't_ want it, but you just told me you did. If you want it, why the hell shouldn't I pursue it?"

"Because it's not right! You deserve someone... _whole_. Not a fugitive who spent a third of his life in Azkaban. Not a man who is more than twice your age. Not me."

"Enlighten me then, Sirius, why don't you. Who am I supposed to be with if I'm not supposed to be with you?" As she spoke, I looked anywhere but at her. I tried to cling on to the very last remnants of my sanity, but she was torturing me. Her beauty, her brains, her _passion_. It all tortured me, and while she believed that she spoke the truth, I _knew_ that she'd hate me if we had anything and it ended badly. I knew she'd never want anything to do with me again if we did. She'd never live a normal life, because I was still on the run from the Ministry. So I said the one name that would potentially be the break I needed from this addictive girl, and perhaps shock her enough to drop the subject. She stunned me, froze me, like someone had shoved me in a full body-bind, though it was an almost addictive feeling. I put my large, calloused hand over her small, soft one on the table and she flinched.

"Harry. Harry is who you should be with."

"Don't play games with me Sirius. I'm not a child anymore," said Ginevra angrily. Her eyes seemed to contain fire as bright as her long hair. She wrenched her hand from beneath mine and poured a glass of Firewhiskey before knocking it back. I raised my eyebrows at the direction she'd taken. She repeated the action, knocking back the amber liquid. She didn't choke, like I'd predicted, but her facial expression told me that she didn't care much for the drink. "How dare you think that I'll simply let you pass me off to your bloody godson? I will always be grateful to him for saving me from the Chamber, and ultimately from death, but that doesn't mean I'll be happy to just be shipped off to him!"

"One, I'm not playing games. Two, you are very much still a child, because you are only thirteen. Three, I'm not expecting you to "simply let me" do any such thing. Just _calm down_, Ginevra!"

"And there's another bloody thing! Why do you never call me _Ginny_?" The shout was just a small part that signalled the beginning of her ranting and raging and I paid absolutely no attention to a word she was saying, choosing to slowly drink my Firewhiskey instead. Soon enough, the noise died down, and she settled to simply glaring at me. I had a feeling that she knew I'd switched off only a few words into her long rant, and she gave me a look that would have made her mother proud.

"I call you Ginevra because I, personally, hate the name Ginny. It doesn't suit you. Ginevra is much more complimentary, and it's a unique name. Why on Earth should you be pleased with that ridiculous diminutive?" I said calmly, swallowing the last of my drink. "Now I'm going to bed, Ginevra. We'll talk when you've calmed yourself down, and perhaps sobered up a little. Remember this: it may not be right to be with you, but that doesn't mean I don't want to, though I'm telling you no for a good bloody reason, so don't delude yourself into thinking that I'm wrong. Because you seem to be desperate to find something to blame on me, quite unfairly, might I add. Sleep well."

I left her sat at the kitchen table to ponder what I'd said. I wondered if it were a wise thing to do, leaving her unattended with the Firewhiskey, but then I had been the one to encourage her to drink it, before she showed me that she wanted me. In no way did I think that I'd heard the last of _that _conversation. I stormed up the stairs, much like she had when she'd been exiled to her bed the night Harry got here. The only difference is that I was much, _much_ quieter. And I wasn't angry because of my personal exile. I was furious, because I wanted Ginevra, and I couldn't bloody have her, because eventually she'd end up with Harry. At that moment, I both loved and hated my godson with a passion. I loved him because he was a perfect, charismatic boy who was intelligent, funny, had had too much thrust on his shoulders too quickly, and he was the son of my very best friend in all the world. I hated him because he was going to get what I wanted most: Ginevra Weasley.

"You stop it, Sirius. You stop it now. It would never work, you and I both know it." Remus stepped out of the shadows, just as I was opening my bedroom door. I gave a great yelp and jumped half a foot in the air.

"Fuck, Moony! You scared the complete and utter shit out of me!" I admonished him with a light heart, because he was still my best friend, no matter what had transpired between us in the past. Me and Moony had always understood each other perfectly, and he'd often been there for me, no matter what I needed. He knew me better than James had, but then, Moony had had the advantage of being my lover. In contrast to the popular belief of the Seventies, only a very few people could truthfully say that.

"Sorry, Pads, werewolf sneakiness, I suppose you could call it. Like I said though, give it a rest." Remus was being stubborn and persistent, like Ginevra. It wasn't a surprise, though I didn't have a clue what he was being stubborn about.

"Give _what_ a rest, Remus? I haven't the foggiest clue what you're on about."

"I'm 'on about' Ginny Weasley. She's not even of age. None of the kids here are. And just to creep you out a little more, I _taught_ her. She's only thirteen, Sirius. Get your mind out of the bloody gutter," hissed Remus angrily. I couldn't decipher why he was telling me any of it. I knew every word that had just left his usually eloquent mouth.

"Ah. Sweet mother of Merlin, I _know_ how young she is. In case you wondered, I just rejected her advances because of that," I shot back. "What's this really about, Remus? Are you jealous? Or are you trying to feel better about yourself?"

"I'm not jealous, Sirius," said Remus perfectly sincerely, and my mind reverted to the other option I'd given him. I could read Remus like a book, and they were the only two reasons I could think of for him being all noble about Ginevra and I.

"So then you're trying to feel better about yourself." There was a pause while I figured out what he possibly needed to feel better about himself for. I replayed every conversation we'd had over dinner with the Order and the kids, and conversations in private. And then, like on one of those TV shows Lily had made me watch years ago, a light bulb flickered on in my head. "Ah. I get it, I really do. You think that by telling me everything I already know about Ginevra, how _wrong_ it is, you can convince yourself the same thing about Hermione Granger."

"Shut up!" Remus snapped. I was on the right track then, I noted, and I pulled a face.

"Hermione? _Really?_ Didn't you get the newsflash? She's going to marry Ron Weasley and have ginger, bookworm kids that eat too much and are far too stern for their own good." I knew that pissing off a werewolf probably wasn't the smartest thing I ever could have done, but it made me feel smug, almost content in a sadistic way. That was until a very hard fist connected with my jaw in a blow that actually broke it.

"Fuck off, Sirius," said my best friend in a voice that conveyed pure, undiluted hurt.

"That fucking hurt, Moony," I said accusingly, gingerly massaging my broken jaw, wincing all the while. My words came out garbled, but Remus must have understood them, because with a pitying look, he healed the broken bone. "Cheers."

"That was cruel, but I started it, I suppose. You always did have the last word, even with James, who was the stubbornest git on the planet. She's going to end up with Harry, you know. Hermione may end up with Ron, but Ginny will marry Harry. She's a lot like Lily, you know. I'm not sure if you noticed it before, but she really is. She's fiery, and extremely loyal, not to mention that she's a very bright girl. And Harry is pretty much James' twin brother, though he's not got that streak James had. They might just be perfect for each other." Remus sighed and followed me into my bedroom. "I'm lonely, Pads."

"So oblige my cousin. She's daft for you, is little Dora, in case you didn't notice." I replied, lying back on my bed and chuckling sardonically.

"I don't want her. She's like a dark shadow next to Hermione. Don't get me wrong, she's a nice girl, but she's not the one for me."

"Nope, I thought I was. Until Peter ruined my entire life."

"I really don't think we would have lasted anyway, Pads." Remus said sadly.

"I disagree. We were twenty-one, and we got together when we were fifteen. Six years was a bloody good while, y'know, not counting that break we had. No one else ever lasted as long as we did without spending the rest of their lives together. Still, no one does. We would have been together now," I argued. When I heard Remus sigh, I knew that he knew I was right.

"But it's different now. We had a 'break', in which you shagged a couple of girls, and another guy. There are twelve years between us, because you were in _Azkaban_. And twelve years is a long bloody time."

"Are you saying it was my fucking fault? Do you think I _wanted_ to spend twelve years in that hell-hole, wrongly blamed for my best friend's death?"

"Of course it wasn't! I'm just saying, we never would have recovered from that, even if I did still love you that way." Remus stated.

"I hear you, but what's done is done, and we'll never know what was to happen. You're still my best mate, Remus, and the fact of the matter remains that I love you like a brother now, the way I loved James."

"As you are mine," replied the werewolf. "And you're like a brother to me too."

"D'you want to stay in here tonight? I don't want to be alone. Purely platonic, I swear." I said quietly. I heard him murmur his assent and climb in next to me. I didn't look at him, but left one hand lying between us. Remus was never an idiot, and he got the hint as he held my hand, squeezing it gently. Though to anyone else it would have seemed a romantic gesture, to us it was the memory of the years gone past, and the things we had lost. We needed the comfort from each other, because we were the only people who really understood. So our clasped hands lay unmoving between us, providing a grim sense of reality.

I pondered our history, and my mind settled on the 'break' Remus and I had had in our Sixth year. It was after that stupid prank I played on Sni- _Snape_. Remus hadn't spoken to me after he found out, except to tell me it was over and not to talk to him. He kept it up for the rest of the school year, and the prank had happened in that October. So I had gone away, thinking that it truly was over and shagged three different girls. When that hadn't done anything for me, I seduced a nameless Ravenclaw bloke, thinking I could replace Remus with him. I was wrong. A sigh from beside me interrupted my thoughts, and as if I could read his mind, I knew that he was thinking of the same thing.

Despite that fact, after a while, we slept.

* * *

><p><strong>Well? What do you think? If you have any constructive criticism, or you just want to make a comment about this fic, please leave a review. I do reply to them, and I do like to know what you all think.<strong>

**Til next Tuesday (7th February 2012),**

**Lottie.**


	3. Childhood

**Hello again. Now I know I'm meant to only update on Tuesdays, but I literally couldn't wait, so here you go. I'm not entirely pleased with this one - it's not my best work, but whatever. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>I walked down the stairs groggily. It was only seven, and I hadn't got to sleep until three, because I could hear voices arguing at the top of the house, where Sirius slept. I almost went up there to tell him to shut up but then I heard Lupin and decided to just go to bed, ignoring the voices.<p>

"Morning Ginny," said Hermione quietly, making me jump. I hadn't seen her, and she'd given me a right shock. She was sat at the table with an old book.

"Hey, Hermione. You alright?"

"Yeah. How did the talk go last night?" Hermione asked me. She turned a page in her book.

"Not well, but to be honest, I'd think him weak-willed if he'd done anything other than say a resounding 'no'. You still suspect Lupin?" I replied, sitting opposite her and piercing her with a knowing gaze.

"Remus. Yeah, I know he, hmm, _desires_ me, but I just... he's my ex-teacher. Not to mention he's one of my closest friends. I couldn't, no matter how much I might fancy him. Besides, Ron would never forgive me, and nor would Tonks. But tell me – what actually happened with Sirius then?" Hermione asked, changing the subject smoothly.

"Well, I came down here like normal, and we were talking. All of a sudden – I actually don't even know what happened – I was brushing a bit of hair back from his face and I was telling him that if he didn't want 'us' then I'd leave it. He told me he did, but I'm too young and he's a wanted criminal. Everything we knew he was going to say, basically. And I was trying to convince him that I just didn't care. I sort of let slip about the Chamber, when he said he didn't want to take away my innocence. Literally his words, not mine. Then he tried to have a go at me when I persisted, but I told him that I'd only stop when he said he _didn't_ want it, though he'd explicitly said he did. And then he reckoned I was going to end up with Harry, and left after telling me that he did want me. I tell you, he just sends mixed signals," I told Hermione sombrely, after pouring myself some tea.

"To be fair, he makes a very good point."

"Which one, he's got a few."

"Well, he's twenty-one years older than you, isn't he? And he's a fugitive. And you probably will end up with Harry, actually. After all, it seems I'm destined to be with Ron, and well, you fancied Harry for more than a little while." Hermione said all of this seriously, and with a slight hint of despair when she finished her little speech.

"But he still wants me, and that's the important bit." I argued firmly.

"More important than your own welfare? It'd drive you mad, you know, having to keep this a constant secret. I'm probably the only person who would know, maybe Remus. That's _four_ people, out of the dozens we know in and out of the Order. Is it worth the secrecy, and your hurt? Ginny, it'd be too much for you."

"No, it's not worth it," said a voice from the doorway. "There you go, bringing up another excellent point, Hermione. If I were a prefect, you'd be granted points to Gryffindor, really." Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Like she was saying, it's not worth it, Ginevra. I'd never put you through that."

"What would it matter, Sirius?" I asked exasperatedly.

"It matters to me," replied Sirius contritely.

"Not to mention, I'd never let him do something so rash and irresponsible," said my werewolf ex-Professor.

"Oh for Merlin's sake! No offence, Professor, but it'd be no-one's business but mine and Sirius'. Not to mention that from what I hear, describing Sirius as irresponsible would have been the understatement of the millennia whilst he was at school" I said, throwing my hands in the air with frustration.

"Touché, but still." Lupin said, with a sardonic smile on his scarred face. We all four looked at each other, and the tension rocketed up a few notches, until Fred and George Apparated onto the kitchen table, scaring the wits out of us all, and making the tension disappear.

"Morning all," said Fred, throwing himself down next to Hermione, and kissing her on the cheek. My eyes flashed to Lupin's face, and for a split second, he looked furious, and then hurt, and then finally forced serenity filled his expression. George did the same thing on Hermione's other side, and suddenly my friend was bright Gryffindor scarlet.

"Do you two want to_ not_ molest my friend?" I asked brightly, winking at Hermione. Even though I knew for a fact the bookworm fancied Remus Lupin more than a little bit, it was clear that she was intrigued by Fred. Hermione didn't know that I knew she liked Lupin, though, so I kept quiet until she wanted to admit it to me.

"But Hermione is so wonderful," said Fred. We all knew that he adored Hermione, and would probably have followed her to the ends of the Earth. It was actually quite sweet.

"And it's really easy to do," finished George, in that creepy way that the Twins finished each others sentences. Hermione blushed even harder at that point, and we all laughed at her.

"You could fry an egg on each cheek, Hermione," said Sirius charmingly. I glanced at him, and he gave me a weak smile before looking away.

"So, Ginny. We hear that Michael Corner is your boyfriend. He's too old for you." George started. He looked playful, though, and I thought he might just be playing with me. Truthfully, when I looked at him wonderingly he just smirked, before looking at his twin expectantly.

"You hear wrong. He keeps asking me out, and I keep saying no. Besides, he's only in Hermione's year." I replied, following George's lead and turning to Fred.

"Well, then _you _are too young to date," finished Fred with a frown. He was always the more protective of me, and the least reluctant to play pranks on me. Charlie was the most protective of me, though he was never really around, but he wrote to me at least once a month, begging to know everything new in my life. He was the most trustworthy of all my brothers, too, and I could tell him almost anything with no fear of him repeating my secrets to anyone.

"Let her make her own mistakes, boys," said Sirius as he cracked an egg into the pan. There was a sizzle as the egg slowly fried and I turned around in my seat to stare at him, with my eyebrows furrowed; I only received a burning look back as his eyes seemed to warm.

"Would you do the same in their position, Sirius?" Hermione asked from behind her book. Sirius' eyes hardened, and to my surprise, he nodded. Hermione looked up thoughtfully. "You've changed your mind."

"Are you sure that's wise, Pads?" Lupin asked softly. I swivelled back to look at the man expectantly. "I'm just saying, it's not really, is it Ginny? For him to change his mind about these things."

"It's Sirius' decision." I said frostily. "He knows it was down to him all along. Don't you try and change his mind now that he's remade it. It's his life."

"Do you want to tell us what's going on?" Fred and George asked simultaneously.

"Absolutely nothing," replied Sirius - apparently contritely, though Remus, Hermione and I knew he was lying through his teeth.

"Right," the boys chorused sarcastically, before Disapparating from the room.

"Do you mean it?" I asked Sirius. He nodded. When I beamed at him, he added, "if we do this, it has to stay a complete secret. Absolutely no one, except from us four here will know."

"Honestly, what do you take me for? I'm not an idiot. At least try and sound happy about it though. You look _and_ sound as though I've forced your hand, which as far as I remember is false."

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't get much sleep last night. It took a fair amount of deliberation to change my mind. I'm still not sure whether its worth your own personal risks, though. You understand that I'm really happy, Ginevra, but there's just a lot on my mind. I mean, what are we to do when you go back to school?"

"Your best friend is here, you'll be okay. We'll make it through."

"That reminds me," Hermione began, "Professor-"

"You can call me Remus, you know. That is my name, after all, and I am no longer your teacher," interrupted Lupin. "The same goes for you, Ginny."

"Thank you," I said with a somewhat confused smile.

"Very well, Remus, but what with Voldemort on the rise again, _are_ we going to make it through this time? He can touch Harry now because Harry's blood and Lily Potter's magic runs through his own veins, where before he couldn't touch him. It's changed everything. I mean, yes, the Order has come back, too, but there is so much more threat to us." Hermione said worriedly, putting her book down.

"Actually, there's no more threat than there was before. At least this time, there is no spy among our ranks."

"How do you know for sure?" I asked. "Hermione has a point, you know, we are in worse danger than before. I mean, _yes_, Harry can name all of the Death Eaters now, but he's still having those awful dreams about them and Riddle. It's much more than you had to deal with last time. Harry is only fifteen, there's too much on his shoulders. And who's to say there's not a spy. There may well be, still."

"There's not. I can tell you that much for sure, Ginevra, we have made very sure there is no spy among our ranks," said Sirius. "We're trying to help Harry as much as possible. It's not easy, but we're there. There are a significant number of the Order at Hogwarts, and stationed in Hogsmeade. Not to mention the Aurors as well. Harry is well protected, try not to worry about it. It's our problem."

"And he's my friend. Of course I'm going to worry." I replied. "Besides, you can't protect him from his own head."

"We'll see about that," said Remus.

Sirius kissed my hair softly, right before footprints could be heard on the stairs. A few seconds later, Harry poked his head around the door.

"Are you lot having fun without me?" My boyfriend's godson asked with a smile. We all smiled sadly back.

"No, Harry," said Sirius. "We were discussing ways of protecting you from Voldemort."

"At what cost will it come, though?" Harry asked, sitting down next to me. "It's all well and good trying to help me, but there are going to be disappearances and murders and who knows what else. It's not just me who's in danger – all of us are."

"But you're the most valuable out of all of us, Harry. You're the one he wants." I said bluntly, and Harry's shoulders visibly drooped. "Everyone's trying to make things easier for you, so you can live as much of a normal life as possible before the worst happens."

"I don't want anyone to die for me."

"They're not dying for you. They are dying for the greater good. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made; I know that as well as you. Lots of people are going to die, but the best we can do is try to reduce the number and win this War," said Remus dejectedly, and Harry nodded slowly. "We need to work together, all of us. That is the only way we can pull through. No more secrets, no more lies. This is the way it has to be, so the best we can do is deal with it as it comes."

* * *

><p>"Tell me about your past." I said at the table that night with Sirius. He grimaced.<p>

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything, but for now I'll settle with your family history, your childhood."

Sirius grimaced again. "Of all things you want to know, my family is the one thing you pick first. Alright. Well I know you've seen the tapestry, because I heard you creeping out of the room a few weeks ago. So you know that my parents were related." I nodded, and motioned for him to carry on. "They were second cousins, and I am related to Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. My other cousin is called Andromeda Tonks."

"Tonks?" I asked, frowning.

"Yes. That's why she was blasted off the tapestry. She was disowned for marrying Ted Tonks – a muggle-born. Nymphadora Tonks is her half-blood daughter. No one quite knows how she got the metamorphagus powers though. Anyway, she was made an example of, was Andromeda. She married a muggle-born, but this all happened when I was about ten, and it seemed suddenly stupid. I was always a little rebellious – I liked to push boundaries with my parents, and they did punish me heavily for it. They made Kreacher beat me. However it seemed very stupid to me that my cousin was getting disowned for being in love, and one day I really looked at my family tree. I noted all the people that had been blasted off, and I asked my parents about them, asked what they had done to get them weeded out of our family. And they were pleased that I was taking more interest into the Ancient and Most Noble House of Black; they didn't realise I only wanted to know about those who had made... hmm, misdemeanour's, you could say. It was soon after that day that I really investigated all of the Hogwarts Houses. I always just assumed I'd be in Slytherin and would do my parent's bidding, but really looking at all the qualities one needed to be Sorted in a specific House – I realised that actually, Slytherin wasn't the place I was supposed to be.  
>"Gryffindor. Four months before I was meant to go off to Hogwarts and be in Slytherin with distant family, I figured out that I was meant to go to Gryffindor. After that, I stopped the pranking and the pushing boundaries. I was demure, threw myself into my studies and became the perfect Slytherin son. I hoped that I might make my parents proud if I was perfectly behaved, and then it wouldn't be so bad once I got Sorted into the wrong house. When I finally got my Hogwarts letter in June, I replied that I would be going with shaking hands."<p>

"Oh Merlin. What happened when you eventually got there?" I asked. He snorted.

"I met James Potter, Remus Lupin and... well, Peter Pettigrew on the Hogwarts Express. James was very wary of me at first. He knew all about the Blacks – the same way I knew everything about the Potters. We were related somehow, and Dorea Black had not been disowned, so it was a good, secure marriage. Yet an hour into the journey, we were chatting and laughing like we were lifelong friends. And then we were in the Great Hall getting Sorted. James had been the first out of the four of us to get into Gryffindor, and then I went next. The Sorting Hat told me that I was wise to research everything that I had, and asked if I wanted to be in Ravenclaw. It said it would let me choose. I asked what House it thought I should be in, and he just screamed out Gryffindor. I swear the whole Hall was silent. That was until James actually climbed up onto Gryffindor table and started cheering. It was amazing," said Sirius, smiling broadly at the memory. His face suddenly clouded.

"Sirius? It's hard remembering them, I know. They sound amazing, they really do."

"They were, all of them. Now, all of us are either dead or simply a shadow of what we once were, Ginevra. I miss them."

"I know," I said. I lay my hand on his forearm, and he looked at me. His face was contorted in pain, though I knew it wasn't physical. It sounded stupid even to my own ears, but – as if it were a cliché – it was pain of the very soul. I removed my hand from his arm and placed my palms flat on the table. "Come on, we're going to get you up to bed."

"I want a drink."

"Don't you reckon you've done enough drinking over the past few weeks?" I asked.

"No."

"Alright, fine," I said, sighing. I walked around the table and put my hands on his shoulders, gently massaging them with my thumbs. "I'm going up, so I'll see you in the morning. Good night."

* * *

><p><strong>Tell me what you thought? You know you want to.<strong>

**Lottie.**


	4. Muggle Duelling

**Hello again. This may be one of my favourites from the whole fic to be honest, because there's a lot of raw emotion playing out in it. It's a bit steamy too. Either way, I hope you like this. :)**

**Big, enormous thanks to these people:-  
><strong>**Favourite Story: Vuor and fiorellaweasley  
>Story Alert: .1602, Haunted Slytherin Princess, fiorellaweasley and ginnypotterrox545<strong>

**Enjoy, beauties :)**

* * *

><p>It was four days after I changed my mind about having a relationship with her that I finally plucked up the courage to kiss her at the corner of her mouth. She looked like she was going to smack me in the gob when I pulled away and I cowered under her gaze, before I then laughed at myself. Some Gryffindor<em> I<em> turned out to be.

"What?" I asked her.

"You go through all the trouble of changing your mind, and reminding me for Merlin knows how many times about all of the risks we face as a couple, and then you go and give me some dainty little peck at the corner of my mouth. Not even on my lips! I'm not made of glass, Sirius. You _can_ kiss me if you want to."

"Listen, you. I want to kiss you so badly, and I know you're not made of glass, but it's been nearly fifteen years. I'm afraid that if I start, I won't stop. Furthermore, I'll push it more than I ever ought to." I replied sadly. She'd been raped as an eleven-year-old, after all, she didn't need to tack a thirty-six year old guy on her list of molesters. To my surprise, instead of staying quiet, she threw back her head and laughed raucously.

"Really, Sirius? You think that I didn't know that? Of course I knew, and I don't even care. I want to take a walk on the wild side, and there's not one person I trust to do that with more than you."

"In that case," I started, before leaning in and letting my lips touch hers. Almost instantly, her hands came up to tangle in my hair, and our lips made little whispers as they moved against each other. I felt her tongue lightly graze my lower lip, and I obligingly opened my mouth to taste her tongue as it ran over mine, massaging gently. I was being pushed back on my bed, and I let myself lie horizontal as she straddled me. Her centre hit just the right spot on my body and I moaned quietly. Ginevra pulled away to giggle before reattaching her lips to mine. One of my hands was at the back of her neck, and the other was resting on the back of her thigh, and I dropped my hand from her neck to slowly and gently explore her topography.

"Sirius, please," moaned Ginevra. My hand ran gently over her breast, making her moan again. Her hands tightened in my hair when I massaged her breast with no conviction. In response, she ground her hips against mine, apparently not even noticing she was doing it. With a tremendous effort, I tore myself away from her.

"Stop, Ginevra. We can't."

"Why not," she gasped. Her hands had begun to roam restlessly, too.

"Too soon, too soon. You're... you're only fourteen. And... _Merlin_, do that again... and your parents are here... your brothers... Harry, Hermione, Remus, the Order. _Oh_... your... past experience. Too soon in our relationship," I said between gasps and moans. Ginevra pulled back sharply. Her brown eyes narrowed dangerously, and I sat up slowly.

"If you don't want to do this, you could just say," said Ginevra.

I started laughing then, a loud, deep laugh that made the bed shake. It made Ginevra's glare soften slightly, and I pointed to the very obvious tent in my trousers. "Are you telling me, by looking at that, that I don't want this? I was under the impression that you were much smarter than that, love. I want this, _so much_. But I want it to be special, not some lust-filled moment that we won't remember in twenty years time. And not a moment when I'm terrified that your parents, or your brothers, or your friends, or my friends or the Order could come bursting in at any moment. I don't want to make you look like a fool in front of anyone, and I want your first time to be perfect."

"I already told you, it's not my first time. I've done _it_ before, and it still counts, no matter how... unwilling... I might have been," said Ginevra, forcefully shrugging her shoulders with a pained look on her beautiful face.

"It will be your first time, because one, you weren't willing, and two, it'll be the first time that you _make love_ with another person as opposed to... to being_ raped_ or having a meaningless shag," I replied sincerely. She really did deserve so much better than a crappy quickie. I knew it wasn't time yet, for either of us, no matter how much we both wanted it. I felt as much a horny teenager as she was in that moment and it made me have to choke back a snort of laughter.

She crossed her arms and gave me a stern look. In that moment, she looked so much like Lily that I almost teased her and called her 'Evans'. She blushed before speaking. "So now, I have to... sort myself out?"

I immediately understood and laughed again while I felt my own face get hotter. "You and me both, sweetheart."

She kissed me softly before leaving my room. As soon as she was well out of earshot, I groaned and stuck my hand down into my underwear. In no way was I pleased about having to 'sort myself out' – as Ginevra had put it, but there was no way I could ignore the erection in my trousers, so I sighed, ran a cautious hand up my length and gasped.

* * *

><p>"Sirius, I'm worried about Harry," said Hermione quietly. I jumped, because I hadn't heard her enter the library, and I didn't think she'd find me here. Then I reconsidered. She was Hermione Granger, the brightest witch of her age, and I didn't need a spy, or Remus to tell me how much of a bookworm she was. I'd seen that much for myself, so it was no suprise that she was in the library in the first place. "Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you."<p>

"Not at all, Hermione. What's the problem?"

"I think Harry wants to stay here, with you. You're the only true family he has, you know, and he loves you. You need to convince him otherwise. He _has_ to finish his education."

"You have a problem because he wants to stay with me?" I asked, more harshly than I intended. I was touched by Harry's desire, and annoyed by Hermione's concern of it.

"No, not at all, Sirius. I just think he's being rash. Of _course_ he should live with you, you're his godfather and you love him every bit as much as he loves you, but you must see that he needs to finish school first, or he won't even be allowed to join the Order. If he is to join, then he really needs to know everything he possibly can, academically."

"I understand where you're coming from, Hermione, but shouldn't you let him do what he wants to do?"

"No, because it's not what's best for him, or what will keep him safe. Perhaps I should have asked Remus to talk to you instead."

"He's as safe here as he is at Hogwarts. This house may even be better protected: after all, Hogwarts isn't under the Fidelius Charm, is it?"

"No, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have ample protection," retorted Hermione.

"Hermione, I want him to be here as much as he wants to be here, and I won't force him otherwise." I replied gently. For Merlin's sake, I was being instructed by a fifteen year old girl how to raise my godson. No fucking way.

She threw me an icy look. "Right," she said in a tone just as cold, "I see I spoke to the wrong person. I thought you had Harry's best interests at heart. The thing is, I don't think you can distinguish between Harry and his father. I think that you think they are the same person, and they're not. James is d-"

"You don't need to tell me that my best friend is dead! I know that, thank you! Just as much as I know that _Harry isn't James_." I yelled. Hermione flinched, but I couldn't care less. The stupid bint was trying to tell me about my life, like she even had a clue. I glared at her with fury radiating off of me, until she took the hint and strode from the room. I started pacing restlessly, muttering expletives that were directed at Hermione fucking Granger.

"Really, Sirius, she's just a girl. Don't be so hard on her," said Remus, from the doorway. I yelped in surprise, and then glared at my best friend.

"She brought up James," I replied in a furious, though quiet, moan.

"I understand that perhaps she took it too far but-"

"Perhaps?" I interrupted incredulously. Perhaps was the understatement of the fucking millennia. I kicked the table and howled when it kicked me back – hard. Trust my family to have a table that attacked people.

"Sirius, that is enough." Remus looked angry, but for once I didn't care.

"You're not my fucking mother," I snarled.

"No, and I'm glad I'm not. You hated the woman," said Remus with a humourless laugh.

"Is there a reason you're here?"

"Yes, I'm telling you that Hermione is absolutely right. Convince Harry to go back to Hogwarts."

"No."

"Don't you care about him enough to make sure he gets the same level of education you did?"

"I've had enough of people questioning how much I care about Harry. He's my fucking godson, not yours, not Molly Weasley's and certainly not Hermione's!"

"He would have been _my _fucking godson too had the law permitted. And _I_ would have been the one taking care of him while _you_ were locked up in fucking Azkaban!" Remus yelled back. He'd finally cracked. His legendary calm had been pushed to the limit and I had an angry werewolf on my hands. But I _just didn't care_.

"I was in Azkaban because of Peter! Because he was the spy everyone thought _you _were!"

"Everyone thought I was the spy because I'm a fucking werewolf! You didn't fucking _trust_ me enough to turn around and say that I wasn't! What was I? A meaningless shag? I bet you fucking laughed behind my back at what a _gullible_ fool I was, loving you when you didn't even love me. Before you started laying plans on how to take me the _fuck _down of course!" Remus shrieked at the top of his lungs. I snarled at him.

"You think I didn't _love_ you? That's what this is about? Newsflash for you, Lupin, but we both would have been cast out of the Magical World had anyone known about us! Furthermore, how could we_ not _think you were the spy? Everyone had heard what Voldemort was saying to lure the wolves, and you spent so much fucking time with them!"

"On Dumbledore's fucking orders! And hang on, _I'm_ not the one who switched Secret Keeper to the _actual_ spy!"

"I did what I thought was best for James and Lily! Everyone knew that I was James' best mate, so it would have been obvious how to find them. It's not my fault that we trusted the wrong person!" I screamed. Remus' eyes flashed dangerously.

"No, but it's your fucking fault they're _dead!_ It was your fucking idea!" Remus screeched. He sounded like my mother, adding more fuel to my growing fire.

"No it's not!" I bellowed, and Remus only had a second to react before I charged at him, flinging my wand aside. I leapt at him and my hands closed around his neck before we both went tumbling down. He repeatedly punched and kicked me as I tried to cut off both his oxygen and blood flow by strangling him to death. When he broke my nose, I gave up in favour of punching and scratching every bit of Remus I could get my hands on.

"No, Sirius, stop!" A woman was screeching at me, and trying to tug me off of Remus, but I elbowed her out of the way and heard her stumble with a grunt. I carried on beating my so called friend as much as I possibly could, and he hit me back with as much as he had – which was a fair bit, considering he was a werewolf. He rolled us so that he was on top of me, but he'd slid back so that me was straddling my thighs, so I threw myself upwards with all of my strength and broke his jaw as I head-butted him.

"Remus!" Another woman shrieked when the werewolf yelled out with pain. I punched his broken jaw, and his fist was about to snap forward and collide with my face when we were blasted apart. I flew backwards, into one of my father's bookshelves and hardback books rained down on my head. One particularly heavy book landed on my skull with a sickening thump, and I saw a flash of red before I promptly passed out.

* * *

><p>"Sirius! Can you..." Ginny asked.<p>

I saw black once more.

* * *

><p><strong>What do you think? TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME! :)<strong>

**Lottie.**


	5. Aftermath

**Hello there. It's update time again (thank goodness), and I have a couple of thank you's to say:**

**Story Alert: Joleigh13, Serrah-Angel, SlayerBunny, BB's girls, onecelestialbeing, as well as twelfth [dot] night [dot] 1602 (because your pen name wouldn't show up when I posted it on the last chapter, sorry).**

**Favourite Story: onecelestialbeing (who also very kindly added me to Author Alert and Favourite Author, thank you so much!)**

**So to everyone reading this now, enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Sirius! Can you hear me?" I asked. I needn't have finished my question, though, because he had passed out again. I brushed a lock of his ebony hair back from his face, and continued to dab Essence of Dittany on his many cuts. I watched, fascinated, as the skin began to heal and knit itself back together. Mum never let me watch when she healed my brothers in the past, so I was surprised when she showed me how to apply the Dittany and then left me to it. I had a feeling that it was because she didn't like Sirius, so she didn't care as much for his health. When she heard me talk to Sirius, her head snapped around, but then when she saw that he was still unconscious, she went back to tending to Remus. Remus and I had had a tense few days, but the day before, we had spoken and made peace with each other. I looked back down at Sirius curiously. What had made him and Remus fight like that?<p>

"Remus! Oh, thank Merlin you're awake, dear. How do you feel? I healed your jaw and your cuts, and you had a broken rib, but I couldn't see anything else that might have been wrong with you. Is there anywhere else that feels specifically hurt, dear?" Mum asked Remus. He sat up slowly, as if his entire body was bruised, and his face was tense with pain.

"I'm just very stiff and sore, Molly. Sirius gave me quite a beating, I must say. I'll heal though. Thank you for healing everything else."

"Is there anything you need, Remus?" I asked gently. His eyes locked onto mine, and I saw that they had taken on a mysterious golden hue instead of his normal blue.

"A glass of water would be fantastic, Ginny," replied Remus and I immediately hopped up to get him one. When I handed it over, he drank it down quickly and sighed with contentment. "Thanks for that."

"Not at all."

"Now Remus, what on Earth made you two fight like that? And Muggle duelling at that?" Mum asked him sternly, but her face was soft and full of worry-lines.

"It's something that Sirius and I should discuss, really, but it was just venting. We haven't spoken much about the past since he escaped..." Remus said quietly. "We were both very angry and playing the blame game. I'm so sorry for the inconvenience this has caused you all."

"Are you going to fight again, when Sirius wakes up?" I asked, not meeting the gazes of either my mother or my ex-professor.

"I hope not. If Arthur hadn't of blasted us apart like that when he did... we might have killed one another."

I looked down at Sirius again, and his fingers twitched. I noticed that the elbow of his robes had a dark patch. I slid the fabric up his taught arms and saw a large cut, which I quickly applied Dittany to. As it healed, I thought about my bruised chest, where Sirius had elbowed me. I didn't tell mum about it, or she'd never have let me near him again, but I figured I'd get Remus to heal it when he was feeling a bit better. Sirius' fingers twitched again. My eyes flickered to his face, and he appeared to grimace so I poked him in the flesh between his ribs and his hips, making the corner of his mouth twitch upwards in a tiny smirk. On the pretence of healing a cut on his neck, I bent down to put my mouth near his ear.

"I know you're awake," I whispered, "you want to grace us with your conscious presence?"

"I'd rather lie here and have you pamper me," muttered Sirius, while he very obviously bit back a grin on his bruised face.

"Is he awake yet, Ginny?" Mum asked me. I looked down at Sirius, and his eyes moved from side to side under his eyelids instead of shaking his head. I rolled my own eyes and huffed quietly.

"Nope," I said, "he's still out cold."

He smiled, just slightly. Even though he couldn't see me, I grinned back.

* * *

><p>"Remus, I think this book goes on the shelf next to you," I said, passing him a heavy gilded book. He grimaced and took it out of my hand before setting it on the shelf carefully. We both knew that some of the books were ones that would be able to harm us quickly and painfully. I looked around at the mess of the library and huffed, which made my chest ache.<p>

"You okay, Ginny?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I replied, smiling at the older man.

"Alright." We went back to sorting and putting things back in the correct places.

"Er, Remus, can you do me a favour?" I asked when I sat down opposite him. I had, admittedly stupidly, decided to help him tidy up in the library, and all we were doing was righting the things that couldn't be put back into order by magic. We'd been at it for an hour, and Sirius was still feigning unconsciousness, so we took a break. Mum had wanted to wake him up by magic, but I told her to just leave him be, in case he decided to try and attack Remus again when he woke. Mum had thankfully agreed.

"What is it you want, Ginny?"

"Well, during your fight earlier, Sirius sort of elbowed me. Because I tried to pull him off you, you know? But he got me pretty hard, and the bruise isn't pretty, not to mention that it's quite painful. I was wondering if you could heal it, because Mum would throw a shit fit if I asked her to do it. She'd probably poison Sirius' wine or something." I smiled when I stopped talking, and Remus nodded solemnly.

"I'll heal it, but you should probably tell Sirius what he did when he 'wakes up'," said Remus. I pulled my shirt down an inch or two so he could press the tip of his wand into the bruise, which he healed; he then gave me a knowing look.

"Yeah, there's a few things I want to say when he does." I muttered, grimacing from the pain of having Remus' wand poked into my chest.

"Well, you may as well tell him now. I know he's not really unconscious, Ginny."

I gaped at him. "How?"

"You forget that I lived with him for ten years, and I was in a relationship with him for four of them. I know when he's sincere about something and when he's not," said Remus with a sad smile. "Well, that and I heard you two talking to each other an hour ago. Werewolf senses are heightened, remember?"

"Considering you told me something hmm, noteworthy-"

"Not really, Ginny." Remus interrupted with a snort.

"Let me finish. I should tell you something as well. Hermione knows about your feelings for her. She's very unsure of things when it comes to her love life though – and last year, at the Yule Ball, she was upset that neither Harry nor Ron had even considered asking her to it. She cared about Harry." I finished. His face twisted in confusion.

"Of course she cared, she still does, she's one of his best friends."

"No, Remus, as in how you care for her."

"Ah. That's natural, I suppose. He's the Boy Who Lived, isn't he? And he's the spitting image of James. James had girls fawning over him all the time at school – not that he ever noticed. He only ever had eyes for Lily, did James," said Remus. We both fell silent for a few moments, until everything clicked into place.

"That's what you fought about, isn't it? James and Lily, and how they died."

The werewolf nodded glumly. "They all thought that I was the spy, see? You know that James and Lily went into hiding, of course. Thing is, there was a traitor within the Order, a spy. No one knew who, naturally, but only two people knew where James and Lily were: Dumbledore and Sirius. Sirius was their Secret Keeper, much like Dumbledore is of this house. Everyone suspected me, because of what I am. They thought I'd bought all of Voldemort's propaganda to the wolves. And because Dumbledore was constantly sending me away on undercover missions to the other packs, the whole Order believed I was going to turn my back on them and tell Voldemort everything. Not even my friends, not even my best friends in the whole world believed me. And at some point, while this was all going on, Sirius decided he couldn't protect James, Lily and Harry. The whole wizarding world knew that he was James' best friend, and Sirius thought that it was only a matter of time before he was to be captured and tortured, so he switched Secret Keeper. He believed that no one in their right mind would try and interrogate Peter. He was too... Peter. Everyone thought he was too obvious, too stupid to know anything of utmost importance. But, well, he was the spy all along. He sold James and Lily out to Voldemort, and then Voldemort went to Godric's Hollow and killed them. Sirius left as soon as he heard. He didn't even tell me. Well, he'd gone on that fucking motorbike of his to Godric's Hollow and gotten Harry from the bedroom. Dumbledore told me later that he'd said his last goodbyes to James and Lily while he was there. He handed Harry over to Hagrid, lent him the motorbike and started walking. He went after Peter and then little old cowardly Pete faked his own death. The Aurors arrived on the scene carted Sirius off to Azkaban, and he was apparently laughing all the way. It wasn't until I read the _Prophet_ in the morning that I found everything out. I still believed him to be guilty until halfway through the academic year when I was teaching at Hogwarts, when Harry told me that he'd seen Peter on the-... well, when he found out that he was still alive."

"Didn't you doubt Harry, though?" I asked, furrowing my brow in confusion. Remus had been _justthisclose_ to telling me where Harry had seen Pettigrew before he caught himself. The only place Harry could have been at that point in the year was either at Hogwarts, in Hogsmeade village or at my house. All of those places were pretty public for someone who was supposed to be dead.

"No, Harry wasn't lying. He'd seen it from another source, and the source didn't lie. It never has and it never will."

"I'm so sorry, Remus. It must be so hard for you, having to remember them, not being able to escape it." I said, and I patted his hand in a gesture that I meant to be comforting.

"It is, Ginny. There's not a day that goes by that I don't miss them. I wish I could go into the past and change it all. I wish I could save them, and therefore Harry, from their terrible fate."

"You blamed Sirius for their deaths," I said. It wasn't a question. He nodded again. "Do you think he's still mad at you?"

"Probably. I'm still furious with him," replied Remus bitterly.

"But you know each other so well. You're best friends, and ex-lovers. It'll all be righted between you... won't it?"

"Maybe, maybe not. I don't know now."

"Hermione was there, you know. She called out to you when Sirius broke your jaw," I said. I snickered quietly. Though it wasn't funny at the time (it was bloody terrifying), I now thought it was hilarious that Sirius had head-butted Remus.

Remus looked at me curiously, until a look of comprehension dawned on his face. Then he burst into peals of laughter that echoed through the room. I hadn't realised before, but his laughter was so infectious, and I found it easy to remember and understand why all of the girls had that crush on him in Second Year. I started laughing as well, and a moment of complete contentment passed between us. He really was quite handsome when he laughed. I knew that in that moment, we'd never be bitter towards each other again, or jealous, or even irritated. We understood each other perfectly, and in that moment I felt that I could call him my friend.

"Ginny, dear, are you-?" Mum cut off abruptly when she saw Remus and I crying with laughter. "What's so funny?"

"We were re-living the moment when Sirius head-butted me and broke my jaw," replied Remus around his laughter. He wiped his eyes, looked at me and then started laughing harder.

"Ginny! That is not funny."

"Mum, it really is. And Remus' laughter is just... so... infectious." I laughed as hard as Remus then, and Mum made an irritated, or perhaps exasperated, noise and left the room.

After about ten minutes, Remus and I started to calm down, until we were barely snickering, but had really bad stomach-aches. I wiped my eyes again, and giggled for the last time.

"Remus..."

"Yes, Ginny?"

"She really does admire you, you know. Hermione, I mean. She sees you as someone she can trust and confide in. And she had an enormous crush on you when you taught us." I said, watching Remus' face carefully. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. I felt bad in that moment, but I thought it was important that he knew he wasn't completely wasting his time. And Hermione's behaviour around Harry... well, it was clear to me that she didn't fancy him any more, that's for sure, considering the cry of pure terror during the fight. She had it bad for Remus Lupin, and I was the only one who could see it, though I wasn't sure what I could do with that information.

"Thanks."

"Any time."

* * *

><p>"Ah, you waited for me," said Sirius silkily.<p>

"That I did," I replied, stretching like a cat upon his bed. My shirt rode up my stomach, and I watched as Sirius eyed my skin hungrily.

"I heard Molly grumbling about you and Remus laughing too much in the library."

I rolled my eyes before pulling my shirt back down. "Trust Mum to put it like that. We were simply sharing a laugh at the fact you _head-butted_ Remus during your fight earlier. Speaking of, you owe me an apology. You elbowed me and left me with an enormous bruise on my chest. I had Remus heal it for me, because if Mum had seen it, she'd never let me near you again."

"Oh Merlin, I'm so sorry Ginevra," said Sirius with wide eyes. He'd gone horribly pale, and he looked appalled.

"It's okay. I just know better not to try and pull you off of the person you're attempting to kill in the future. I know why you were fighting as well, by the way. Remus told me what happened. He also told me about... the past. How it came to be that James and Lily died."

"Right. If it wasn't such a bad thing, I would have told you. Its something that I wanted you to know, but didn't have the courage to say out loud. I'm glad you know. Merlin, I really am sorry about your chest. Are you sure you're okay? It's not sore or anything, is it? I am so, so sorry."

"I'm _fine_, Sirius, just shush, will you? I just thought it was something you should know about. It's all healed, and it's all fine." I leant forward and kissed Sirius slowly and carefully. And that's how we spent the rest of the night, just kissing softly. He held me close when we broke apart, and I rested my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat while his arms enveloped me, keeping me warm. I smiled when I felt my eyelids drooping and snuggled into him deeper.

When I woke the next morning, I was in my own bed.

* * *

><p><strong>What did you think? Please leave me a review, it only takes a minute, and it makes my day when I hear from you guys, because I like to know your opinions. Constructive criticism is always welcome.<strong>

**See you next Tuesday!**

**Lottie.**


	6. Of Age

**Hello again. I hope you've all had a lovely week, and if not, I hope this chapter helps cheer you up for this one. I have a couple of thank-you's to say before we begin:**

**Story Alert: Nutmeg44 and lovelyloony944.  
><strong>**Favourite Story: AzkadelliaBlast94.**

**And this Chapter is dedicated to Paulaa90, who was a little disappointed that I hadn't originally put any smut into this fic until quite a while towards the end. I tweaked this one for you, Paulaa, I hope you like it.**

**And to you, lovely reader, I hope you like it too. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>There were five days until Ginevra went back to Hogwarts. I was actually counting down the days, because I knew that it would be two and a half months until I saw her again. In the last week, I'd been acting, as Ron had tactfully (yeah, right!) put it, like a 'grumpy old man', to which Hermione had told him to shut up. I hadn't spoken to Hermione much because when I thought about it, there wasn't actually anything to say. She was the reason Remus and I had fought like that. I still felt like killing him sometimes because no matter what, he was my best friend, and there was no way he should have blamed me for... for <em>that<em>. He knew, he _knew_ how awful I felt, every fucking day, how I blamed myself for their deaths. He crossed the line. There are things that should never be said, and he said them like it meant nothing. Though Hermione had apologised to me, Remus still wouldn't say a word to me. He wouldn't even look me in the eye.

"Sirius, can I talk to you?" Well speak of the devil and thou shalt appear. There was Hermione Granger, standing at the doorway to my bedroom, looking like she wanted nothing more than to be eaten by the troll-leg umbrella stand in the hallway downstairs.

"Sure. What's the problem?"

"Well, I know I said sorry, but I really am, Sirius. You have no idea how bad I feel. I mean, if I hadn't interfered the way I had, you and Remus would never have had a reason to fight," said Hermione.

"I hear that Harry gave you a really hard time when he found out the details." I said, watching her carefully. She hung her head, in what appeared to be shame and despair, but her shoulders were set determinedly.

"That he did, but we've... spoken."

"Ron took his side," I noted. Hermione paled, and I turned my back on her in favour of kicking my bedside table.

"Yeah. Yeah, he did." The girl sounded hurt, I realised. I wanted to turn to look at her, to see the expression of pain that must have been crossing her face, and yet I stayed vigilant. Ha, _vigilant_, like Moody kept yelling at us to be.

"I don't understand why you're here. What's your purpose from this? You said you're sorry, and I forgave you, but yet you're back. Is this about Remus? Because I really don't want to hear it. More than enough people have been butting their noses into it, but it's not helping any. Remus is just as bloody stubborn as I am, Hermione, so you can't try and persuade any one of us to talk to the other."

"Er, Sirius-" Hermione said, her voice rising in pitch, and I still didn't turn to her as I cut her off.

"No, Hermione! Please, just leave it. We're fine, everything is now okay between us, alright? I'm sure that if they haven't already, Ron and Harry will come round. It may take a little while, but everything will be fine," I snapped wearily. I ran a hand over my face when a throat was cleared nervously.

"Actually, Sirius, she was trying to warn you that I had arrived," said Remus, standing next to Hermione. I whirled round, wand raised as he laid a gentle hand on her shoulder and smiled encouragingly. Hermione stared at him searchingly, and then her gaze flickered to me, before staring up at Remus again. "Go on, Hermione. We won't fight again. I'll be down soon."

And I stood there, gaping at my... whatever he was to me at that moment, while he kissed her uncontrollably curly hair and looked into her eyes like he was having a silent conversation with her. She smiled, blushed and laced his fingers with hers. After a moment, in which she stared at me warningly and Remus worriedly, she left.

"When did that happen then?" I asked. I'd turned back around, so I wasn't facing him.

Remus chuckled darkly. "Hermione and I? We've been sending each other letters for months and months. Concerning our... relationship, only about four weeks. We've been very secretive about it. Hermione even told Ginny that she fancied Harry to cover our tracks, but your girlfriend is a clever young woman, and I believe she's figuring out that something wasn't quite right. We figured _you_ wouldn't tell anyone because of your own situation with Ginny."

"Situation?"

"Oh turn around, will you?" Remus snapped. I complied, though reluctantly, and I stared at him for a moment. The werewolf looked different to my eyes. He was lighter, happier than he was before. He even looked _younger_. Well fuck him, then. Is that what fucking Hermione Granger was doing to him? Making him look _young_, and _whole_? Good for him, the slimy git. Never pegged him as one to cradle snatch, but apparently it was doing him the world of good. And me, well I was still looking old and empty and exactly like I'd spent twelve years in Azkaban and two years (and counting) in hiding from the Ministry.

"So. What's your purpose in being here? Granger talk you into it?"

"What does it matter either way, Sirius? I'm here, and you're here, and now we need to talk." Remus said, sounding tired. His 'glow' dimmed a bit and I snorted.

"Right," I said sarcastically. "It's been how long since we spoke and you choose now, five days before our respective... well, before our girlfriends leave to talk to me."

"I'm sorry, alright? I'm fucking sorry for saying all those things, blaming you. I shouldn't have done it, and it was wrong and personally, I feel terrible. You're my best mate, Pads. You're the only fucking friend I have left. We're the last of the Marauders. I love you, mate. I love you, and I miss you, and I'm asking you to forgive me."

"I'm still furious, because you were a right fucking arsehole, but I may have deserved a bit of it. And you're right. We are the last of the Marauders, and we're best mates, and I love you and I fucking miss you too. I don't know if I can forgive you for what you said, and our fight, but I want to forget it. I want to leave it in the past and let that be that. We've spent fourteen years regretting everything that happened between us, and you know what I'm saying? Fuck that. Enough is enough."

"Come here, you daft fucking mutt," said Remus, and he held out his arms. Reluctantly, I walked over to him, and embraced him as tightly as he did me. I smelled chocolate on him, and it was exactly the same as it was before James and Lily were killed. Remus was still strong, and he still ran a few degrees hotter than before, and I still felt his chest rumble against mine as he laughed, and his hair still tickled my nose. Typically, I sneezed, and Remus laughed even more.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here, Hermione. It's about time you two made up, you've both been insufferable," laughed Ginevra. Hermione's tinkling laugh joined in, and I finally caved and began to chuckle with Remus, wiping away the tears that were threatening to leak out of my eyes and roll down my cheeks. I clung to my best mate like he was a float in the middle of the ocean, like he was the only thing that was going to stop me from sinking into an awful, deep black pit. "Guess you've cheered up then."

I looked at Ginevra like I was seeing her for the first time. She looked like a goddess when she smiled, and it lit up the whole room. "What does it look like? Sorry I've been such a grumpy old git. You're totally right, I've been insufferable, and I've wasted the precious little time we have left before you go back to Hogwarts."

"Apology accepted. Can you do me a quick favour?"

"Sure, what is it you want?"

"Change into Snuffles for me. I'm... curious about something," said Ginevra mysteriously. I complied. I lost myself into the pure emotions that came with being Snuffles, keeping my thoughts and feelings, but having them condensed into something much simpler, something that Snuffles understood and reacted accordingly to.

I turned back into a man, and Ginevra threw herself into my arms. I looked at her bemusedly, though I held her close. "What brought this on, then?"

"I fed you! I saw you walking through Hogsmeade village, and I stumbled upon your little cave in the mountains and I fed you. I looked after you just months ago!" Ginevra stood on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek. I still had an arm slung carelessly over her shoulder, and she had an arm around my waist, almost as though she were helping me stand.

"I remember that," I said, "I just didn't think you'd ever realise it."

"What's it like? Being an Animagus, I mean?" Hermione asked tentatively. She was cuddled against Remus, and even through her happy haze of romance, I could see the fire behind her eyes. Hermione was always eager to learn, and she never had a single regret over her passion.

"It's strange. I prefer being Snuffles, because everything is just so much simpler. I miss the pack, Moony can tell you, but it's a little too simple. If it hurts, I whine, if I'm hungry, I'll hunt. Thing is, I can't escape my human feelings, even though I'm not technically human. They're just squished into something that I can understand."

"Remus is still hurting himself at the moon," said Hermione carefully. "Do you think...?"

"Yeah, because the stupid git won't let me stay with him." I replied with a snort.

"Because sometimes I have to go to the packs, and you can't bloody well come with me, can you? When this war is over, we'll put everything right, put everything behind us. But for now, there's so much strain on everyone. Friendships don't have the same kind of bonds as they did before the war, before all this shit started." Remus said wearily. Ginevra fidgeted under my arm, and I looked down at her. Her eyebrows were high on her forehead as she stared at Remus. I chuckled lightly, understanding. She wasn't used to hearing Remus swear, not like me, or apparently Hermione.

"Oh, Hermione, there you... What's this?" Harry asked, after bursting into the room. Hermione was trying to disentangle herself from Remus, while I sagged on top of Ginevra, like she really was helping me stand. She let out a small 'oof', but miraculously understood what it was I was doing, and helped 'support' me over to my bed, where I slowly – with Ginevra's 'help' - lay down. Harry's piercing emerald gaze locked on to me and his face visibly softened.

"Sirius is hurt, Harry," said Ginevra as though she were concerned – which, I supposed, if it were real, she would be.

"What happened?" Harry immediately asked, coming to my side.

"Knocked my leg into a cabinet and it kicked me at the back of my knee. I think it's just bruised to be honest, but I don't know." I said. I felt a guilty twist in my stomach, lying to my godson like that, but he couldn't know the truth. "I was lucky that Ginevra had come to look for me. I didn't ask, actually, what is it you wanted?"

"Just to know if I could have a look through the library. I wanted to do a bit of research for Defence class, because we don't know who our teacher is yet, and I want to be pre-prepared in case the teacher is... incompetent," said Ginevra, apparently truthful. However, it was obvious to Remus, Hermione and I that she was lying through her teeth.

"Sure, any time you want. You're welcome to go into most of the rooms in the house. I would advise that you have someone who is of age with you though, because some of my fathers books are bloody nasty." I said. Harry was staring at Remus menacingly.

"Well what about Hermione and you?"

Remus looked as though he wanted the ground to swallow him whole. "I... _we_, have something to tell you."

"Right."

"Hermione and I-"

"Were sharing our most secret fears and feelings. We have something in common, after all. I thought that we could help each other. We were hugging as a comforting gesture." Hermione interrupted, and there were raised eyebrows from Remus, Ginevra and I. "You see, Remus' lycanthropy makes him as hated and despised as mud-bloods, if not more so, but he doesn't feel like I deserve to be discriminated against, and that he does."

"That's what you wanted to tell me? Remus, no one here thinks you are a monster, and no one here believes that either of you should be discriminated against. You shouldn't let these things get to you." Harry told Remus severely, before turning on his heel and leaving the room.

I stared at Hermione. "What was that about?"

"I didn't know how he would have reacted to it, considering. I might be turning seventeen next month, making me of age, but Harry doesn't see it like that and I'm not sure that he would have understood." Hermione replied simply, not looking at any of us. Ginevra was the first to speak.

"Hang on, you're not seventeen next month. You're sixteen, because you're going into Fifth Year, not Sixth."

"Ah, you didn't know, did you? I was in possession of a Time-Turner for nearly a whole year, so I will be turning seventeen. I'm going to be of age in less than a month!" Hermione said, beaming. It was easy to see her excitement, considering that she was going to be able to use magic freely. As if she could read my mind, she spoke again. "I wrote to the Ministry, regarding it all and they said they were going to remove the Trace on my birthday."

* * *

><p>Ginevra laughed and laced her slender fingers with mine. She turned my hand over.<p>

"Did you play an instrument?"

"My dear old mum had me take piano lessons as a child, before I went to Hogwarts, and in the summer holidays until I was fourteen. In the summer when I ran away, me and the boys took a trip into Muggle London. It wasn't just Muggle London, but it was the Seventies, the era of sex, drugs and rock'n'roll and I became obsessed with rock music. The Sex Pistols were my _idols_, well, actually, just Sid Vicious. I wanted to learn the Bass guitar, but I already had ideas about my motorbike, so Remus told me no. If I were to have the bike, I wasn't to have a Bass guitar. So I took up acoustic instead. It just about drove the boys mad, but the girls used to love it. Alice, Marlene and Mary used to come and listen to me play once I'd learnt how to, but Lily... Lily was the one person outside of Slytherin who refused to listen, or essentially drool over me. I serenaded Remus once. He looked as though he was going to murder me." I sniggered at the memory.

"Ah, so you play two."

"I _did_ play them. I don't know if I still can. One day, I'll find out, I suppose."

"You sound so sombre, my dear." Ginevra said. Her thumb lightly stroked my hand, and I looked down at her with cloudy eyes. I felt my eyes burn, and prayed that I wouldn't start crying again. I'd done enough in the summer alone, and it wasn't reasserting my manliness, that was for sure. "You know, you're not a coward for missing what you lost. He was your brother in everything but blood, they were all your friends. It's okay."

"I know," I said. "I know it's okay. With you, it always will be."

"You soppy sod," laughed Ginevra, before gently cupping my cheeks with her small, warm hands. She kissed my lips quickly. "I know what you mean though."

"If I'm right, Remus still has my guitar. I could see if I'm as good as I was at school."

Ginevra laughed again and walked to the doorway. Before she left, she looked back at me over her shoulder and smirked. "I can't wait."

I watched her walk out of my bedroom and clasped my hands behind my head as I lay back down on the bed. I reconsidered what I'd originally thought about Remus and Hermione's relationship. His circumstances were much better than mine, and I would have been a hypocrite if I were to call him a cradle snatcher. If Hermione was making him look and feel younger, then who was I to be bitter about it? Remus was my best friend, and after all the shit in his life, he deserved a chance at happiness, and so of course, I would be happy for him. Not to mention, Hermione would soon be of age. My mind turned to Ginevra, and it settled on the fact that she still had three years before she was of age. But she really was like a Greek goddess – she was simply perfect as she was. I was infatuated with her – if the only way for her to live was to have me die, then I'd do it in a heartbeat, and happily at that. Could I say I loved her? Probably, but it wasn't something I was sure I could admit to myself, let alone anyone else. The people I loved always seemed to end up dying on me.

"What a girl," I said aloud and grinned. Whether I loved her or not, there was no denying that she was perfect for me, and she was going to save me, no matter what objections I had. I yawned and let my eyes drift shut.

* * *

><p>"<em>Hello gorgeous," said Ginevra, a deliciously naughty smirk on her face as she perched next to me on my bed. "We've got an empty house tonight, so we can do whatever you want."<em>

_I smirked back before capturing her lips. In a second, she was on her back and I was hovering over her, one elbow propping me up while my other hand ran down her side. "Depends what you had in mind."_

"_You know what. I want you. Now."_

"_Ginevra, you're..."_

"_Sirius, I'm seventeen, the War is over and you're a free man. And we're in an empty house. Nobody but us will be here for hours. I want you, Sirius, and I'm tired of waiting." Ginevra complained. I smiled when I remembered. Of course, she was right, so I set her on fire with a searing kiss. After a minute, she flipped us over again so that she was straddling me to remove her cream coloured shirt, revealing a black lace bra. I nearly moaned at the sight of her milky, smooth skin, and I waved my hand at her chest. The bra fell into two pieces at once, making Ginevra scowl at me before kissing me again; I was brave enough to hold her breasts in my hands and gently massage them. Her hips bucked into mine, making my erection almost painfully hard._

"_I can't wait, Ginevra," I gasped, and she waved her wand in a sweeping arc above our heads, making both our clothes vanish. I shuddered partly from the sight of her exquisite body beneath mine and the cool breeze hitting my suddenly bare body. I pushed into her effortlessly, and smiled down at her. "You're perfect."_

"_Perfect for you," she agreed around a sigh, and I thrust into her again. The tempo and the power increased until our hips were colliding painfully enough to bruise, and with a scream of my name, her walls clenched around me, making spots of white appear before my eyes as I had the most explosive orgasm of my existence. I collapsed on top of her, my head on her heaving chest. Her fingers deftly played with my hair, and I tenderly kissed her collarbone._

"_I love you," I told her._

"_I love you too," she replied._

"_Marry me." I blurted, before holding my breath to look at her expectantly. She smiled tiredly down at me, red faced and still breathing heavily._

"_Yes. Of course I will," said Ginevra, pulling my face up again so I could kiss her._

* * *

><p><strong>Did you like? Let me know by leaving me a review, because reviews are Galleons and I need to fill my Gringotts vault, okay? :)<strong>

**Until next Tuesday (28th February),**

**Lottie.**


	7. On The Train

**Hello, beauties. Here is the ever promised Chapter 7. I haven't gotten around to rereading OotP yet, so the dialogue is completely crap for this chapter in relation to the book, but it's close enough, I reckon - I mean, we can't all be Jo Rowling, can we? Fuck this, though, I'm updating a day early.**

**Thanks to Sleeplessdream50 for Story Alerting this fic.**

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

><p>The day before I left to start Fourth Year at Hogwarts, a letter had been left on my pillow. I'd been spending as much time as I could with Sirius, which was not much, but we'd spoken a lot about his past, and my childhood. We even spoke a little about Azkaban, but he grew very dark and even unresponsive when we turned to that corner of his life, so I decided to perhaps not explore that period. I turned my attention back to the letter. I looked at my name on the envelope and admired the handwriting. Whoever had written it had obviously had calligraphy classes, and it had definitely been a good investment. I thought for a second about who would be able to afford such a thing, and then I remembered whose house we were in. The Blacks had more money than sense and had had an enormous influence on the Wizarding World. Sirius.<p>

"Well, well, well, Mr Black. What do we have here?" I murmured to myself.

"A letter, obviously." Sirius said from the doorway. I shrieked, dropping the letter and nearly jumping out of my skin. He burst into raucous, bark-like laughter, and two pillows smashed into each side of his head and burst, making feathers fly all over the room.

"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to do that. In my defence though, you did scare the shit out of me."

"Accidental magic. Smooth, babe."

"Don't you 'babe' me," I warned him, but I had a smile on my face. "Since when did you start calling me 'babe' anyway?"

He shrugged and repaired the pillows. "I thought I'd just try it out, I suppose."

"I believe I may miss you, Mr Black. Will you write me?" I asked, fiddling with the latch on my trunk. I didn't look up at him, though I felt the atmosphere in the room become tense.

"You understand that we can't write too much. The Muggles, and therefore the Ministry, will notice if there is a large amount of owls passing through here. Maybe once every few weeks?" Sirius said carefully. I sighed and faced him. And while Sirius stood there looking uncomfortable and slightly sad, a wand lit up in my mind.

"I suppose, of course, you could send your letters with Remus'. I know that he and Hermione write each other at least once a week," I supplied casually, though the smile on my face may have given me away. "And he sends and receives letters from his parents house in Devon, doesn't he? That's how he and Hermione got around it. Perhaps... perhaps Remus could do us this one favour. It's not much, just sending and receiving a thicker envelope, you know?"

Sirius sauntered over to me and put his hands on my waist. A sexy smirk was pulling up the corners of his beautiful mouth as I lay my hands on his forearms. "I think that's a brilliant idea, and we'd be able to talk more often. I perhaps wouldn't miss you so much, Miss Weasley."

As I tiptoed to lightly brush my lips against his, there was a loud click echoing around the room. My head snapped around to see where the noise had come from, and I spied Hermione leaning against the wall with a wizard camera in her hands.

"I thought it would be nice for you each to have a photo, you see. You can't be together, but at least this moment could have been captured, and you can both look back on it. Remus and I have one, and he gave me the idea, actually."

I stepped away from Sirius and hugged Hermione. "It was genius, thank you. When can we develop them?"

"Remus says that it can be done almost as soon as the photo is taken."

* * *

><p>Teeth nibbled at my lower lip and I gasped, allowing a hot tongue to invade my mouth and dance a complicated dance with mine. Hands roamed over my body as Sirius' lips left mine in favour of exploring my neck in intimate detail. He lightly sucked the sensitive spot above my pulse point and I moaned, pushing my whole body up to press into Sirius' more firmly, and in return, he ground his hips sharply into mine. I could feel my stomach beginning to coil with tension, and I whimpered.<p>

"Gin...?"

"Again, Sirius... please." I gasped, and then moaned as his hips rolled into mine yet again. I bit his bare shoulder and felt him push against me again before I shuddered and saw a blinding light. I felt something down my body pulsing and I vaguely heard myself yell out before Sirius collapsed on top of me.

"You... are you alright?" Sirius asked me, pushing my hair away from my damp forehead.

"I don't... what _was _that?" I asked as a small quiver rocked my body again.

"I believe, my love, that you just had your first orgasm. And you helped me have mine after more than a decade," said Sirius, sounding both reverent and smug at the same time. His breath was just as heavy as mine, and he was lightly panting. "Merlin, that was amazing, Ginny. It's the best I've ever had."

"Well, I've never had anything like that happen to me before, but that may have been the most incredible experience of my life so far." I said, rolling Sirius off of me (he's heavy, alright?) before curling up against him. And then I realised what he'd called me. "You just called me Ginny!"

"So I did, love. You are exquisite. And you've still got all your clothes on. No one has ever done that to me before." Sirius told me earnestly. I lazily kissed his neck and murmured agreement as I gently ran my fingertips up and down his washboard abdomen. I could easily feel his ribs, which made me frown slightly, but I could also feel slight muscle definition on his stomach.

"You're beautiful," I said serenely, feeling my eyelids droop.

I thought, before I fell asleep, that I heard Sirius say "so are you".

* * *

><p>"Oh for heaven's sake, Sirius, no!" Mum said exasperatedly as Snuffles padded up to stand beside Harry. I looked down and grinned at the shaggy dog, who yipped playfully. After a minutes argument, Mum let Snuffles tag along, and we all watched as Snuffles chased pigeons, and his own tail, whilst running wild through the little square. I laughed along with everyone else, and we went on our way to King's Cross. I still had a slight headache, from where one of the trunks the twins were levitating crashed into my head and knocked me down a few fights of stairs. I touched the small bump on my head and thanked my stars that Mum was as good with healing charms as she was, or I'd be a lot worse off.<p>

I ran through the barrier and waited nearby for the rest of my family to come through, watching the many students with their families. I waved to Luna and her father Xenophilius, who was the editor of _The Quibbler_, and I smiled at Neville Longbottom, who was nice, but so forgetful and really quite clumsy. I internally cringed at that thought when I considered my behaviour around Harry when he'd spent his first summer at my house. Soon enough, everyone had come through, and they joined me where I stood.

"You alright, Ginny?" Hermione asked, standing next to me on Platform 9¾. I looked at her and saw the same tightening around her eyes that I was feeling.

"Yeah. Long night with Remus?" I replied quietly. She nodded and smiled, though sadly. We stood and chatted for a minute until I looked at her again. "You're really going to miss him, aren't you?"

"I will, but then since we started writing each other last year, I've missed him much more than I felt I should have. I expect it will be the same for you, with Pads," said Hermione wisely. At that moment, Snuffles followed Harry out of the waiting room in Kings Cross, and trotted by Harry's side over to Hermione and I. While no one was looking, Snuffles nuzzled my hand, before licking my wrist. I patted his head and he whined softly, so that only I could hear.

The whistle to the scarlet train blew then, and we all piled onto the train. While Harry, Ron and Hermione went to their own carriage, as usual, I met Luna, Colin, Dennis and Amelia Johnson in another carriage. Dennis, Colin's brother, was only a Third Year, but he was very much a part of our 'group', and it was nice to hang out with my friends again after a summer apart.

"How was your summer, Gin?" Amelia asked. She was in my year, but she was a Ravenclaw, like Luna. She had long, chestnut hair that fell in loose curls that were any hair-dressers wet dream. Her eyes, however, were a beautiful sea-green, and she had a light smattering of freckles across her nose and cheekbones. As a girl, I could appreciate how beautiful she was without feeling the need to hit on her.

"It was alright. Same as usual, really," I replied.

"Was Harry Potter staying again?" Colin asked eagerly. He'd been absent-mindedly taking photos of us all, and passing passengers, and not really focussing on the conversation until my summer came up.

"He always does, Colin, you know this. Oh, the train is moving." I noted with an excited, though nervous, smile, and I watched as Snuffles ran alongside the train. We were in the carriage next to Hermione's, so we could clearly see the large black dog running as fast as he could alongside the train. I pressed my face up against the window, and smiled when the dog slowed down just enough to run alongside our carriage before barking playfully and then putting on a burst of speed, before falling behind as he reached the end of the platform. I waved to him sadly.

"Whose dog is that?" Amelia asked.

"I believe it belongs to either Harry Potter, Hermione Granger or Ronald Weasley, due to the fact that it was running parallel to their carriage," said Luna dreamily, reading her copy of _The Quibbler_. I snickered.

"I'm going to pop next door to talk to Harry for a minute, because Ron and Hermione are the new Gryffindor Prefects. I completely forgot about that. He'll probably be a bit lonely." I said, rising from my seat and leaving the carriage. I walked over, waving to Dean Thomas before ducking into Harry's compartment. I was surprised to see Neville there, but I smiled and greeted them.

"You alright, Harry?" I asked.

"Sure."

After a few minutes, Luna came in with mine and her bags and she settled down. "Hello, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter."

"Hi, Luna," replied Neville happily, before he struck up a conversation about his new plant. I rescued us all when I realised that Harry and Luna hadn't officially met, so I interrupted Neville. I liked Neville, but him and his plants got on my bloody nerves sometimes.

"Er, Harry, I don't think you've met Luna Lovegood. She's a very good friend of mine and she's in my year, but she's a Ravenclaw." I said.

"_Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure_," sang Luna. Harry's cheeks coloured, and he rubbed the back of his neck the way he always did when he felt uncomfortable.

"Anyway," I said, "Luna, Harry; Harry, Luna."

"Nice to, er, nice to meet you Luna." Harry said.

Luna gazed at him for a long moment before replying, "Yes, it's rather pleasant to meet you also, Harry Potter."

I left the carriage on pretence of looking for the food trolley, while I really just went for a wander. It had never interested me much before, but suddenly it surprised me how easily the Hogwarts students found it to split into their houses. I passed a compartment full of Hufflepuffs who were literally sitting on each other's laps, and it honestly looked like half of their House was packed in there. I smiled at Emily Bannerman, who was in my Charm's class and moved along. I passed the Sixth year Slytherin compartment, where Blaise Zabini eyed me with interest before I swiftly strode past the cart. I heard Zabini snap at someone (presumably Crabbe or Goyle) even as I stopped outside Fred and George's compartment.

"Hello, boys," I said when I stepped inside. Lee Jordan quickly put the various parchments away and I narrowed my eyes. "What are you lot up to?"

"Nothing, little sister. Not going to rat us out to Mum now, are you?" George asked. I glared at him as I smacked him upside the head.

"You know full well that wasn't my fault. What was I supposed to do? Pretend my skull wasn't cracked because your fucking trunk slammed into it?" I asked loudly. I wasn't quite shouting, but my voice wasn't at a normal level either. All three of them looked stunned. "What? Have I grown a third nostril?"

"No... you swore. Since when were you such a badass?" Lee asked. He looked extremely impressed and I flashed him a small smile.

"Thanks, Lee. If you two try and have another dig at me like that again, you'll regret it." I said, not hiding the cool edge to my voice.

"Oh yeah?" Fred replied, snorting with laughter.

I drew my wand and aimed it at his nose. Before he could react, I'd cast the Bat-Bogey Hex and he had black flapping wings protruding from his nose and I laughed while Fred shrieked. "I told you."

"Get it off!" Fred yelled and I smirked before leaving the compartment and heading back to my own. I threw open the door and went to sit down in my seat before I realised someone was already in it.

"Hullo, Hermione. How did the meeting go?"

"It was... interesting. Guess who the Slytherin Prefects are?" Hermione replied, shuffling over so I could sit beside her. I flashed her a grateful grin.

"Malfoy and Parkinson!" Ron growled. I raised my eyebrows.

"Why them? Why not Zabini and Greengrass? They seem like they'd be much better as prefects." I asked.

"I think money had a little something to do with it," said Harry bitterly. I knew he was a little pissed off about not making Prefect when my idiot brother did, and I sympathised. Of course he was angry, I probably would have been if I were in his position.

"No, Harry. Dumbledore wouldn't be bought like that. He's an honourable man, and he's not likely to rise to a bribe of all things. Especially from Lucius Malfoy." Hermione contradicted. "Maybe Dumbledore just thought they were the best for the job."

"Right, because they're going to be unbiased," said Ron sarcastically.

"Perhaps Professor Dumbledore's brain has been infested with Wrackspurts." Luna added dreamily. I felt Hermione tense beside me, and I bit the insides of my cheeks to keep from laughing.

"Don't be ridiculous. There are no such thing as Wrackspurts," snapped Hermione. "You're making things up, or you're just dense enough to believe what's written in that rubbish magazine."

Luna rose from her seat. "My father is the editor of that 'rubbish magazine', as you call it." Her voice had lost its dreamy quality and sounded icy. I stared after her in shock as she left the compartment – in the more than ten years I had known her, she had never spoken to anyone like that. Neville caught my eye and raised his eyebrows, clearly thinking the same thing I was.

* * *

><p><em>October 3rd, 1995.<em>

_Ginevra,  
>Merlin, I miss you. It's only been a few weeks, but the last time I felt so empty was when I was in Azkaban. I can't stop thinking about you, and I can still smell you on my pillow. If I didn't have that photo of us, I fear I'd forget what you look like. I can't wait to see you again, which will be at Christmas. Molly let slip that you would all be here. Of course, she has no idea about us. Well, I wouldn't have the chance to write you if she did know – because I would be dead. You should also know that I charmed all of the letters so only you can read them. I'm not entirely sure if I mentioned it before, but now you know.<br>I still can't forget the night before you left to go back to school. You were amazing, Ginevra, and I swear I've never felt this way before. I can't even explain it, but it's so intense, the way I feel about you. I'd say I love you if I wasn't so afraid of you disappearing from my life. In my experience, nothing good can come of telling a person you love them in a totally non-platonic way, and sometimes, even if it is platonic. I just don't want to lose you, because you may be one of the best things to ever happen to me.  
><em>_Resolutely not saying the 'l' word,  
>Sirius.<em>

I felt triumphant in a euphoric way. Sirius Black, ex womaniser and escaped convict, loved me, and the thought made me feel incredibly homesick. However, homesick had suddenly not been a desire to visit the Burrow, it had been a desperation to see Sirius. What was that phrase Hermione had once told me? 'Home is where the heart is'. _That's about right, actually,_ I thought with a small smile.

* * *

><p><strong>What did you think? Let me know, because reviews are the biscuits I have with my tea :) so until next Tuesday,<strong>

**Lottie.**


	8. Attack

**I'm _baaaaaaack!_ I missed you guys :)**

**As there are no thanks to be said this chapter, I suppose I only have one word left to say:**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>I held the pillow to my face again and breathed in deeply. Ginevra's scent assaulted my senses, the same way it had for forty-two days. If I took a mental step back from my life, I could see how strange my behaviour was, but to me, she was like a goblet of Oak Matured Mead to an alcoholic who hadn't had a drink for three months. I was the alcoholic. Letters every week or two (depending on how often Hermione and Remus wrote each other) weren't enough for me, and nor was the now worn photograph of us both that seemed attached to me like my mother's awful portrait to the wall downstairs. I knew it was rash, and far too soon, but I really had fallen for her in a way that I had never felt about Remus. She was the light in my life, and the only reason worth living most days. I saw hardly anyone apart from Order members who would occasionally flit in and out of the house. Even Remus, who was living with me in my parents' godforsaken home, was almost never around because he was either at his place, going up to Hogwarts to meet with Dumbledore and McGoogles or with the werewolf packs, trying to persuade them to at least be neutral in the War if they weren't going to listen to Dumbledore.<p>

I heard Buckbeak squawk upstairs and I sighed, putting Ginevra's pillow down so I could go and spend some time with the Hippogriff. Walking up the stairs slowly and deliberately, so Beaky could hear me, I ascended the three floors between Ginevra's room and my mother's old room, which was where Beaky now 'lived'. Looking at the name tag on the door with revulsion for a moment, I opened the door and stepped inside. I bent down in a low bow to the beautiful creature and did my very best to not blink at all. After a moment, Beaky bowed back to me and I smiled before moving forward to stroke his head softly.

"Ah, Buckbeak. We're in the same sort of boat, you and me. You're on the run from the Ministry, I'm on the run from the Ministry, we're both animals. We've a lot in common, us." I said, stroking his head and looking into his enormous amber eyes. He reminded me of Moony quite a bit; quiet, intelligent, nice to talk to. And the eyes.

"Make a habit of talking to Hippogriffs, Mr Black?" McGoogles asked from the doorway. I yelped, making Beaky's feathers ruffle rather violently, and I could have sworn one of his wings connected rather painfully with my back.

"Merlin, Professor, you scared me! You can't sneak up on a fugitive like that, they're rather jumpy, you see?" I joked, whilst trying to make my heart rate return to normal. McGoogles' thin lips twitched upwards in a small, rare, smile.

"I apologise, Black. You don't have to call me Professor anymore either. You can call me Minerva, if you wish," said my old Transfiguration teacher in her thick Scottish accent.

"Ah, first name basis now? You take your time, I've been waiting for you to do that for twenty years. However, all jokes aside, you can actually call me Sirius instead of 'Black' or 'Mr Black'." I replied, flashing her my most charming smile. I knew I didn't fool her though, because old Minnie saw everything, whether you wanted her to see or not.

"Very well, Sirius. Can I make an observation?"

"Certainly Minerva. Tell me, what is it you see?" I asked with a smile, widening my eyes at her spookily.

"You are much saner than anyone who has been in Azkaban. You are, in fact, much saner than you were only six months ago. Something, or someone had intervened, and is in the process of saving you from yourself. I know you have suicidal thoughts, Sirius, I see it in your eyes. You eyes are dead, empty of life. And yet the light is slowly returning in them. Why is that? Who is it that is intervening in your life? Who is it that is saving you?" Minerva asked. I had frozen halfway through her little speech and I stared at her, as though I were willing her to forget her observation. To be fair, she was much more observant than I had given her credit for. Even when I was a teenager who had just been disowned from his family, she wasn't that 'deep'. Or maybe she was, and I had never previously noticed it. I looked away from her when her green eyes fixed on mine again, and I let them stray to the mess that was my mother's old bedroom. The previously emerald coloured walls were now chipped and cracked. The dust that had been on the walls for at least a decade had dimmed the colour somewhat and covered it with a dirty grey hue. I had gotten rid of her enormous bed when I had first been deciding what to do with Beaky, and her dressing table had been moved elsewhere, not by me, though I had my suspicions that it was Remus. All that remained was a broken chair in the corner. I considered what McGoogles had said to me, and subsequently, my answer.

"Minerva, the only reason I kept any remnants of my sanity was purely the fact that I knew I was innocent. It wasn't a happy thought, so they couldn't take it away from me. I won't pretend that they didn't like to hang around me. I felt guilt and sorrow I had never dreamed I could feel. I was responsible for the death of my brother. I had orphaned a child. I hated that. I am healing, slowly, but I can't tell you how, or why, I just am. I'm still dead, though. I still want to die. It's just that now, I have something to force me to live." I said, still not meeting her gaze.

"That would be Remus, I suppose?"

"No, actually. He's barely here, because Dumbledore has him on all of these bloody werewolf missions. Not to mention he has better things to do with his time than dwell on the past and try to restore me." I replied bitterly. I knew exactly who was healing me. Of course, it was Ginevra Weasley. She was my reason to live. I hated to say that, because my reason should have been my best friend and my godson but they weren't. That wasn't to say I didn't love them with everything I had, but she was my reason. As Lily always used to say, she was The One. Of course Lily thought it was Remus, but clearly she was wrong. No, I was in love with a fourteen-year-old girl, and she was, for lack of a better word, my soul-mate. The irony of that was astounding, considering I had in fact had my soul sucked out of me once before.

"He would though, if he were here more," said Minerva.

"You don't know that." I said. I finally looked her in the eyes again. "Minerva, everything has changed since James and Lily died. I lost twelve years of my life. I lost my best friends and my lover and I even lost my soul. I lost everything, and there are some things I just can't gain back."

"Well, I was only dropping by to say that we're all going to be at the meeting tonight, so I wondered if you could let Molly know. Arthur has already been notified by Kingsley. I must get back to Hogwarts, Sirius, I have a lesson to teach in twenty minutes. The Fifth Years in fact. Shall I pass on a message to Harry?" Minerva asked me. I nodded.

"Yeah, tell him to keep his chin up and ignore the disgusting old toad. And that we'll see each other soon." I said. Minerva nodded and walked down the stairs, ghost-like and not making a single noise.

After about ten minutes, I walked back down the stairs and grabbed a small pinch of Floo powder, throwing it into the fire before sticking my head in the emerald flames. I yelled "The Burrow", and had the oddest sensation of my body staying still while my head span uncontrollably.

"Sirius!" Molly cried, falling to her knees at her end of the Floo connection. Sirius could see past her and into her house. He could also smell fresh treacle tart, making his mouth water. "What is it?"

"Nothing, Molly. Just letting you know that there's another meeting tonight. Minerva said it would be tonight, but she didn't give a time, so just come over when you're ready." I replied, smiling at her.

"Oh give me a moment to pack some things up. I'll come over to yours, and I can cook there whilst we prepare for the meeting. Have you eaten yet?"

I thought back over my day and just as I remembered I actually hadn't eaten, my stomach growled and rumbled. It was an odd sensation to say the least, feeling my stomach rumble when my head was about two hundred miles away. "No, I haven't, but no matter. Shall I make some tea?"

"Yes, Sirius, that would be nice. I'll be over in about ten minutes, and I'll bring some biscuits that I made this morning. Is beef stew alright for dinner tonight? I can make something else if you want, but it's getting rather chilly now that we're in November, so it might do to just keep us all nice and toasty."

"No, Molly, beef stew sounds perfect, thank you. I'll put the kettle on." I said, before smiling as warmly as I could and pulling my head out of her living room, and back into my kitchen. As much as we acted civil towards each other, things were still tense after the argument we had in the summer over Harry. I was eternally grateful to her for keeping her home as open to him as his father's was to me, and also for being as close to a mother to Harry as he'd ever know, but the way she had spoken to me that night was unforgivable, and she knew it. On the other hand, as much as I hated to admit it, she had a point. She had thought of Harry as one of her own while I was locked up in Azkaban, unable to care for him. And even in the past two years, I'd not done much apart from buy him a broomstick and offer him occasional advice.

I put the kettle on and waited for it to boil while I considered just how much better a job I could be doing of being his godfather. The more I thought about it, the more I realised how ashamed James would be of me if he could see me right that moment. He'd be furious that I wasn't doing more for his son, though he would still pity me.

"Sirius, the kettle's done," said Molly, dusting herself off while the kettle was in fact shrieking.

"Sorry about that, Molly, I was lost in my thoughts for a moment." I replied, taking the kettle off the stove and filling up two large mugs. I put out a little jug of milk and a small pot of sugar before sitting opposite her at the table. "Is there anything you'd like me to put away?"

"No thank you. You can help me cook in a bit." Molly told me, before digging through one of the many bags she had on her person. Finally she found what she was looking for, and she put a large tin full of biscuits on the table, before setting out an assortment of mini cakes. "Go on, dig in. You look absolutely starved."

I picked out a vanilla sponge slice and took a bite out of it. Cream oozed into my mouth, mixing with the raspberry jam and the vanilla from the cake, and I chewed slowly, savouring the taste of it. "This is delicious."

"I'm glad you think so," replied Molly, beaming. She looked oddly touched, and I noticed that the bad blood between us was starting to dissipate.

* * *

><p>"You can't ignore whatever the hell is going on and I can't stand aside while Harry has these awful bloody dreams!" I yelled at Snape, who suggested we just hope that Harry's nightmares vanish.<p>

"Sirius, you're right, but what else can we do?" Remus asked desperately from my side. "There's nothing that will help Harry without making him weaker, and therefore more susceptible to whatever mind link they have."

"Well _Snivellus_ isn't going to give us the answer, is he?" I snapped back. "For Merlin's sake, Dumbledore, you've got to have some sort of solution."

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled, those his expression was sombre. "I agree with Severus and Remus here, Sirius. There is nothing we can do for the time being. They aren't doing him any harm."

"Not doing him harm?" To everyone's intense surprise, the shriek came from Molly Weasley. She was always respectful of Dumbledore and especially polite to him, yet there she was shrieking at him. "Harry hates it! I hear him toss and turn and talk. I went into his room one night in the summer when he was asleep, and he was sweating and writhing around on the bed like he was under the Cruciatus Curse! It might not be doing him physical harm, but emotionally, he's a mess!"

"Now, Molly, dear, Albus-," Arthur started, clearly trying to pacify his wife, but she refused to listen.

"Molly, that is enough." Moody said, making the words die in her throat. If there was one person who had any semblance of control over Molly, it was Mad-Eye. Then again, it was probably because he scared the living daylights out of her in a way that only a Boggart could achieve. "Albus is right. Until this brings him physical harm, or begins to scare the other kids, nothing should be done. Constant vigilance! Potter will be fine. He's faced worse than a few nightmares in his time."

"Mad-Eye, they're not nightmares. He truly knows what's going on; he can see Voldemort torturing and killing other people. He saw the Diggory boy die only last summer. That's traumatic enough, don't you think?" I asked, hands flat on the table. The only reply I received was Moody's mad eye whizzing around in its socket.

"There's also the subject of the Death Eaters... We have a list of names, thanks to Harry, but Fudge still refuses to see reason." Dumbledore said. "We need to find a way of reprimanding them. Kingsley, is there anything we can do?"

The man in charge of 'hunting me down' looked as calm as ever. "No, Albus. Fudge is still displeased that I haven't caught Sirius yet. I think he suspects that I'm feeding him false information, but either way, if he knows I'm aligned with you, he'll sack me. If anyone should try and get Fudge to investigate, it should be Arthur. If I get sacked, someone else will be assigned to looking for Sirius." Kingsley finished in his deep, slow voice. The idea of someone else coming to hunt me down sent a chill down my spine. Thanks to Kingsley, they had no idea I was in London, but if someone else was on the job... I'd be sent back to the Dementors for sure.

* * *

><p>"Great-great-grandson, wake up! Wake up! Sirius Orion Black, you wake up this instant!" Phineas Nigellus Black shouted from the empty picture frame on the wall. I sat bolt upright in my bed and scowled in the general direction of my great-great-grandfather's portrait.<p>

"What?" I asked crossly. "What is it that is so bloody important that you felt the need to wake me up at... hang on, _Tempus_... 2:44am?"

"I have a message from Albus Dumbledore. He says that the Weasley... children, _hmmph_... are on their way, along with Harry Potter. Arthur Weasley has been attacked and they shall be arriving by Portkey in the kitchen any minute now. This, apparently, is all I'm good for... carrying messages to my blood-traitor great-great-grandson. Hmmph, the Black family name apparently counts for nothing now." My great-great-grandfather continued to grumble, even as he left the portrait frame. I leapt out of my bed, grabbed a dressing gown and ran down the stairs as fast and quietly as I possibly could. I arrived just in time to see a flash of blue light before five teenagers landed roughly in my kitchen.

"Hello. I heard about Arthur. Sit down and I'll make you all some tea. Do you want something to eat?" Four heads shook from side to side, while Ginevra sat, staring at nothing in particular. In a few minutes, we all had a cup of tea in front of us. The boys all drank their dutifully, and Fred and George looked as though they were having a silent conversation. Harry sat as numb as Ginevra, while Ron kept darting furtive glances at him.

"You should all go on up to bed. It's been a long night, and you're in for a long day tomorrow. Go on, your mum will be here in a few hours." I said, and the boys all filed up to bed. Ginevra had apparently not heard me, but tears began to course steadily down her cheeks.

"Shh, Gin, it's okay. It's fine, your dad is at St Mungo's, and they'll do everything they can." I said, sitting next to her and wrapping my arms around her. She pressed her face into my chest as sobs shook her body, and I held her tighter as I rested my chin on her head. I don't even know how long we were sitting there, with her in my arms, sobbing, but I held her and rocked her and whispered comforting words into her ear, trying to just get her to calm down. She fit just right in my arms, I couldn't help but note, and she smelled divine. After a while, her sobs subsided into hiccoughs.

"What if it's not okay, Sirius? What if they can't save him?" Ginevra asked, once her eyes ran dry.

"We'll figure it out. I don't think he's going to die, though. I think he'll be just fine." I said, and I kissed her forehead. Ginevra settled further into my arms, and I looked down at her before she strained upwards to kiss me softly on the lips. Even as she did so, I wondered if I was telling the truth, whether Arthur really would be okay.

"I missed you," Ginevra whispered. My heart soared just a little bit, and I smiled at her sadly.

"I missed you too," I murmured. "You should go on up to bed."

"Alright," replied Ginevra, disentangling herself before standing up. We looked at each other before she opened her mouth to speak again. "Thank you for letting me cry like that, and thanks for just being there."

"Hey, where else would I be? Stuck here, remember?" I laughed and shooed her off to bed. As I watched her walk away, I realised just how many walls she would have had to break down to let me see her like that. She'd literally never been that bad before, and it broke my heart to see her like that. A sick little part of me hoped that when I told her to go to bed, I'd find her in mine, but I knew that wasn't going to happen, even as I saw Molly stumble out of the fireplace.

"Sirius," she said, sorrow filling her voice. "Where are my children?"

"They're in bed, don't worry. Harry's here as well. How... How's Arthur doing?" I asked hesitantly, laying what I hoped to be a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"They're trying to stabilise him. Whatever snake it was, its venom is unlike any other they've seen before, and they've been trying a host of antidotes on him. They managed to bring his temperature right down, but the venom is stopping the wounds from closing, so he's having a Blood Replenishing potion every hour. He's not all that good though. I'm worried he won't pull through." Molly choked out, her face in her hands.

"I'm sure he will, Molly. If they're anything like I remember, the St Mungo's Healers are the best thing Arthur can get right now. Go to bed, Molly. Try and get some rest. Like I told the kids, it'll be a long day tomorrow."

Molly nodded, lower lip trembling, and walked out of the kitchen slowly.

* * *

><p><strong>This was quite weak compared to some of the other chapters, but I've been feeling really shitty of late, so I apologise for this. Anyways, until next week,<strong>

**Lottie.**


	9. Missing You

**Hello, Bonjour, Ciao, and all the other languages and whatnot. I've missed you in the past week, you know?  
>Okay, so for this chapter, huge thanks go to:<strong>

**Bergere, SparklingAngel819 and Lady-Kiki-Theevilmastermind for adding this fic to their Story Alerts, you all get internet hugs from me.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><em>December 9th 1995.<em>

_Sirius,  
>You're a daft mutt, you know that? I can't believe you tried to prank Snape, I thought you'd grown up from that! I'm not surprised he hexed you, really. Oh Merlin, I just read that over and realised how much I sound like my mother. Cringe.<br>I'm seeing you in eleven days! I am so excited, Sirius. I'm practically vibrating with excitement (and please, I'm begging you, no sexual jokes at that comment). It's going to take every ounce of self control not to throw myself at you, honestly. By the way, Hermione's looking rough at the minute, have she and Remus had an argument? I've not had a moment outside classes and the DA to talk to her, and she has less time than me, considering that it's their O.W.L's this year. Oh, and speaking of the DA, it's going brilliantly. I've perfected the Reductor Curse, and it's amazing. Harry says that we'll be starting the Patronus Charm after Christmas. I cannot wait! I wonder what my animal will be, do you have any guesses?  
>Eleven days! Forgive me, it's just I'm longing to see you, I miss you so much. I've almost forgotten what you feel like, or what you smell like. I wonder if your devilishly good looks have improved any. I'm mentally winking here, by the way, just so you know.<br>Counting down the hours, and with absolutely no love sent (because you're stupid and you object to it),  
>Ginny x<em>

I watched as a barn owl flew away with my letter to Sirius and I couldn't help but grin again in the cold. I was seeing him in eleven days! I adjusted the strap of my school bag on my shoulder before I prepared to head back to Gryffindor.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked from behind me. I shrieked and had my wand pointing at his chest before I could stop myself. He raised his hands, with a letter in one of them. "I didn't mean to scare you! Get your wand out of my chest!"

"I know, sorry Harry. I didn't mean to give you a fright. I was posting a letter, by the way, same thing you're doing. Why else would I be in the Owlery? I don't own an owl." I replied after lowering my wand.

"Who were you writing to?" Harry asked casually. Harry wasn't normally the type to pry; he kept himself to himself for the most part, and he was a friendly, likeable person.

"A friend, from outside of school. What's it to you?" I asked right back. I didn't like the idea of lying to Harry, but you know what they say. Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies. Harry looked taken aback for a moment but he grinned.

"Just curious. You're my best friend's little sister, I'm looking out for you."

"I don't need to be 'looked out for' as you put it. Who are _you_ writing to?" I countered, pointing at the letter before I folded my arms across my chest.

"Snuffles."

"Oh, I see. Well why don't you post yours and then we can go back to the Tower," I said, smiling. It would be nice for Sirius to receive two letters in one day – it'd make him feel like people didn't just see him as a useless fugitive.

He smiled back and called down one of the school's owls, much to Hedwig's disgruntlement, and tied the letter to it's leg while I watched from the doorway of the Owlery. I heard a rough panting and slapping footsteps coming closer, and I whirled as the owl flew off. Filch was running as fast as he could up the stone stairway, clutching at his chest, and he looked murderous. I felt, rather than heard, Harry appear behind me, one hand on my shoulder.

"You!" Filch screeched, sounding eerily like the portrait of Mrs Black. Both Harry and I stared at him, confused.

"Which one of us are you talking to, Mr Filch?" I asked.

"Both of you! I know what you kids do! Fornicating! In the Owlery!"

"You're mad," I said around an exasperated laugh. "You're insane. We were sending letters, not doing the dirty deed!"

"Honestly, we were simply sending letters," said Harry seriously, though his face was as red as a beetroot. His hand gripped my forearm gently. "We'll be off now, then."

"No!" Filch howled, his jowls quivering with apparent rage, making Harry and I exchange a worried glance. "You will be brought to justice!"

"For what?" I asked loudly, frustrated by Filch's stupidity. "Go on, rat us out for nothing! I came to send a letter, and then Harry came in about two minutes after me, so I waited for him to finish so we could head back together."

Filch opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, looking like a fish that needed water. Harry dragged me off, back towards the Tower, shaking his head at me. Our footsteps tapped gently on the floor as we walked, and I fiddled with the hem of my jumper when Harry spoke. "I know he's a git, but I don't reckon you should have spoken to him like that, Gin. I think it might have started something with him. Something that involves Umbridge, detention and writing lines."

I scoffed at the Boy Who Lived. "I can write lines, Harry, if that's the worst she's going to dish out."

When Harry didn't reply, I paused in our walk at stared at him. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing."

"I'll get it out of Hermione if I have to."

"Good luck with that."

I frowned. "Are you saying that she doesn't know what you're hiding from me? Harry what in Merlin's name is going on?"

"Nothing, Ginny, just drop it." Harry said irritably. After a few minutes of silence, we reached the Fat Lady's portrait. I muttered the password to her, and we both climbed through the portrait hole. Harry went straight up to his dorm and I sighed. Perhaps I'd pushed it too far, and I went over to the big bookshelf in the corner of the room that had all the necessary textbooks for First Year right through to Seventh Year, before I picked out Standard Book of Spells Grade 4 and settled in an armchair by the fire. I absently practised a Banishing Charm on a cushion, and was delighted when it zoomed away. I burst into peals of laughter when it actually turned out to have hit Harry in the face.

"Sorry, Harry. What have you got there?"

"Transfiguration textbook," replied Harry with a grimace, making me laugh again as he threw himself into the chair opposite me. I grinned and Summoned the cushion back, smiling when it whacked Harry round the back of the head, and carried on reading. After an hour or so, Harry sighed and put away his book. I looked up from mine to give him a concerned look.

"I'm starving and Ron and Hermione aren't about. Want to come down to lunch with me?" Harry asked.

"Sure. Where are Ron and Hermione, by the way? I know Hermione spends pretty much all her time in the Library, but Ron's normally around." I asked, standing up and putting my book back in my bag.

"Prefect duties, I suppose," said Harry glumly. He motioned for me to climb out of the portrait hole first, and I waited outside for him as he followed. We set off down the stairs towards the Great Hall. "What are you doing for Christmas?"

"I thought we were all in London? If not, I'm sure that you're more than welcome to come home with us. Has Ron said anything?" I asked as we slipped past a group of Ravenclaws.

"Nope," replied Harry, popping the 'p'. "I barely see either of them any more outside of lessons, mealtimes and the DA. I want to know where my best friends have gone."

"Well, I'm not them, but I'll try and be around a bit more. At least Snuffles is alright and staying out of trouble." I said, patting his arm gently. He looked at me.

"I still worry about him. Hang on, how do _you_ know how he is?"

"From Hermione. She and Remus write each other quite a lot, and apparently he's just the same as when we last saw him. Have faith that we'd _know_ if there was something wrong, alright?" I said to him, sitting opposite him as we entered the Great Hall for lunch. I served myself some fried eggs and bacon, making a sandwich out of it with some fresh bread. I took a bite and then swore as the yolk burst out on my hands.

"_Tergeo_," Harry said, siphoning off the egg yolk with his wand. "So how have you been? We haven't really spoken for a while."

"I'm fine, just trying to get ahead with my studies. Hermione's had a positive effect on me. And I've had to hide from Michael, because he's still after me, if you get what I mean." I said, taking another bite into my sandwich while Harry nodded solemnly.

"Yeah. I know."

* * *

><p>"Miss Weasley, wake up," said Professor McGonagall, shaking my shoulder. I sat bolt upright immediately and stared at her. She looked distressed, and that was no good thing.<p>

"Oh Merlin, what's happened?" I asked.

"I'll tell you and your brothers in Professor Dumbledore's office, Miss Weasley. Please hurry." She said. I leapt out of bed, threw my dressing gown and slippers on and ran out of the room and down the stairs to the common room, where I met my brothers. McGonagall nervously tugged at her plait as we half ran to Dumbledore's office.

We burst into the office to see Harry and Ron sitting there, both white-faced and sweaty. I dropped into a chair as Harry told us what happened, with Dad being attacked by that dirty snake of Tom's. And in the Ministry, no less!

"Ginny, the Portkey!" Ron said hoarsely, and I touched a fingertip to the silver object. The next thing I knew, I was in Sirius' kitchen, and he was making us tea. I was slightly comforted by his presence, but other than that, I was numb. My Daddy... he was dying... he could be dead by morning. I barely registered my brothers filing out of the room as tears began to drip down my cheeks.

"Shh, Ginny, it's okay. It's fine, Arthur's at St Mungo's, and they'll do everything they can." Sirius said, wrapping his arms around me. I pressed my face into his chest as sobs wracked my body. I don't even know how long we were sitting there, with me in Sirius' arms, sobbing, but he held me and rocked me and whispered comforting words into my ear.

"What if it's not okay, Sirius? What if they can't save him?" I said, once my eyes ran dry. Despite not crying anymore, my voice was still horribly thick, as though I'd be set off again at a moment's notice.

"We'll figure it out. I don't think he's going to die, though. I think he'll be just fine." He said, and he kissed me forehead. I settled further into his arms, and I looked up at him before straining upwards to kiss him softly on the lips.

"I missed you," I whispered.

"I missed you too," murmured Sirius. "You should go on up to bed."

"Alright," I replied, disentangling myself before standing up. I looked at him. "Thank you for letting me cry like that, and thanks for just being there."

"Hey, where else would I be? Stuck here, remember?" Sirius laughed and sent me off to bed. I hesitated before going to my own room, as I realised that if and when Mum came to wake me up, she'd freak if I wasn't where I was supposed to be. As I was already in my pyjama's, I only had to remove my dressing gown and slippers before I climbed into bed, and I did it gratefully, desperate to have a sleep that didn't contain a nightmare of Dad being attacked by a whacking great snake. Before I could fall asleep, though, something sharp jabbed my neck and I carefully reached my hand under my pillow, pulling out the photo of me and Sirius from back in August. Smiling, I put it back and let a peaceful darkness consume me.

"Ginny, dear, wake up." Mum said, shaking me gently. I bolted upwards, making my forehead collide painfully with hers.

"Oh, sorry Mum, you gave me a fright. Is everything okay? How's Dad? Is he...?"

"He's fine, dear, but he's still in St Mungo's. The Healers aren't too sure what sort of venom it is, because the wounds aren't closing. He's stable though, and we can see him later on." Mum said, before patting my knee softly, rubbing her forehead with the other hand. "Come and get some breakfast. Sirius is cooking, and I must admit, it smells delightful."

Mum left my room, and I heard her heading up the stairs to Fred and George. I smiled in spite of everything that was going on. "_Sirius_ is cooking?" I muttered to myself incredulously and I chuckled before throwing my dressing gown back on and padding down the stairs to the kitchen, where it did indeed smell divine.

"Good morning, Ginevra," said Sirius with his back to me. From the sound of sizzling, I guessed that he was frying some bacon. Ron and Harry were talking quietly at the table, and they looked up when they heard Sirius greet me.

"Morning, Gin," said Ron, before turning back to Harry, who gave me a weak smile.

"Morning boys." I walked over to where Sirius was an looked into the pan. Definitely bacon, and there were even some eggs frying in another pan. I looked up at Sirius, impressed. "I didn't know you could cook. How'd you know it was me, by the way?"

"Smelled you. Being around your scent makes me more perceptible to it. Your scent is almost as clear to me as Moony's, but then that's only because I lived with him for ten years, and five of them having... another form. And before you ask, yes, I even smelled you through all the food." Sirius smiled down at me, and it was only then that I noticed the dark rings beneath his eyes, and how they were slightly puffy. I put my hand next to his on the counter, and very lightly stroked my little finger over his.

"You've not been sleeping," I whispered, letting concern leak onto my face.

"No," admitted Sirius, "it's been stressful with the Order and now your dad... I had nightmares as well. I have them every now and again, so its no big deal, but these... it's like being around the Dementors again."

"Oh Sirius. This isn't healthy. Have you taken a Dr-"

"Of course I have. And it didn't bloody work. If I were anyone else, I could have gone to St. Mungo's and they would have sorted me right out, but I'm a wanted fucking fugitive," snapped Sirius quietly, before stabbing moodily at a rasher of bacon to see if it was cooked yet.

I stared at him. "There's no need to snap, I'm only trying to help. I seem to be the only one, in case it escaped your notice." I said coolly, before turning and sitting at the table. I knew he wouldn't come and try to talk to me again, because he was too stubborn and we were in front of the others. I was hurt, because with everything going on with Dad's attack, the last thing I needed was to have some sort of argument with Sirius. Not that it was much of an argument, but that wasn't the point.

Ten minutes later, we were all sat at the table, digging into Sirius' truly amazing breakfast. He'd outdone Mum, even, by cooking sausages, mushrooms, French toast, eggs, bacon and even some tiny pumpkin pasties! I knew that Sirius had tried to catch my eye several times during breakfast, but I resolutely ignored him. It didn't matter that I was his girlfriend, or that I'd very nearly slept with him, or even that I loved him more than I thought was possible for someone like me. If he was going to be a complete git to me, I was going to ignore him. In my opinion, it would teach him a damn fine lesson.

* * *

><p>"Someone needs to talk to Harry," Ron said, playing with a bit of wool from his jumper.<p>

"Then why don't you do it?" I replied. Harry had been in his room for the past couple of hours since everyone found out that in that dream of his, _he_ was the snake that attacked Dad. Obviously he was under the impression we all hated him, or were scared of him, but it couldn't have been any less true.

"Because he won't talk to me. He won't talk to anyone. Even Sirius tried. He just doesn't want to know."

"Oh for Merlin's sake, this is ridiculous. I'll bloody go." I said, rising from my seat in the kitchen. My brothers made noises of protest, but I ignored them and walked up the stairs. After a bit of trial and error, I found his room on the third floor and I yanked the door open irritably. "Harry James Potter, that is enough."

He was lying face down on the bed, but he leapt up when he heard me, giving me a once-over before slumping back down. "I'm not in the mood, Ginny."

"You seem to forget that I'm the only person who has any idea what you're going through. I'm sorry, does the Chamber of Secrets not ring a bell? Tom Riddle's Diary? You think you're being possessed by Riddle, right? Well I'm the only person who can tell you if he is or not." I replied. I sat down on the bed next to him, and I could feel him freeze. He sighed and sat up.

"I'm sorry Ginny, you're right, of course. He's just always in my head, you know? And just as that Portkey was about to bring us here, I wanted to rip Dumbledore apart limb from limb."

"Sounds painful. Right, the only way I'm going to know is if you answer one question. Are there moments where you completely black out? Where you can't remember anything at all? Because hours went by when I was being possessed, and I couldn't remember a single thing I'd done. It used to terrify me when I woke up with blood on my hands and feathers everywhere. You know that Riddle made me slaughter the school's roosters." I said, shuddering. I never had regained the actual memories of killing the roosters, and opening the Chamber, but waking up with blood on my hands, and my robes ripped was enough, and it still terrified me. It took a year and a half before I stopped having the nightmares, and that was with a lot of work from both Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall talking to me about my thoughts and feelings. They had assumed the role of... what was it Hermione called it? Psychiatrist, I think she said. I literally had to have her spell it out for me. It was the Muggle equivalent of a Healer that specialised in emotional disorders and such.

"Well I don't black out... I see sort of visions of Voldemort, and I feel his emotions." Harry said doubtfully.

"You're not being possessed then. Is it a mind link?" I asked.

"Dumbledore seems to think so," said Harry. "Thanks, Ginny. Could I just have a bit longer? I'll be down within the hour."

"Alright," I said, before closing Harry's bedroom door quietly behind me, letting a small smile of victory slide onto my face. I turned to go down the stairs when I saw Sirius standing there. His hand covered my mouth to muffle my shriek. I bit it and he withdrew it, rubbing his fingers while glaring at me. "What the hell are you playing at? You scared the wits out of me!"

"Sorry, I just wanted to apologise. For snapping at you like I did this morning. You were right, you are the only one on my side, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"You seem to be making a bloody habit of it though, don't you?" I muttered crossly, before proceeding down the stairs.

"No, Ginny, wait," said Sirius quietly, and before I knew it, I was pinned against the wall and he was snogging me to within an inch of my life. I gasped from shock, and his tongue invaded my mouth, tasting of tea and ginger and something just distinctly _Sirius_. I felt the hard line of his body pressed against mine, and my arms wound around his neck, pulling him closer still. After a couple of minutes, I tore myself away from him with a gasp.

"If that's how you apologise, I forgive you. Oh Merlin, I missed you, Sirius. I really just missed you." I said, leaning my forehead gently against his. My arms were still wound around his neck, and his fingers were still digging into my hips.

"I missed you too, sweetheart. I really... I'm just glad you're here, despite the reason for it."

"I know exactly what you mean."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so I know that there was a smidgen of repetition here, but I felt that it was absolutely necessary to have Ginny's POV of her dad's attack. It isn't necessarily important to the fic in any way, but I felt like it should have been there. <strong>

**Leave me a review and let me know what you think. Until next week,**

**Lottie.**


	10. Letters

**This chapter very nearly didn't come out, because I forgot to edit! :/ But here it is. Okay, so this is a mix of Ginny's and Sirius' point of views, because it was a filler that I wrote months ago, but I hope you can see whose POV is being spoken about and where.**

**Thanks to: darkimagination687 for adding this to Story Alerts and Lord Mortenson for adding this to (I'm assuming his) Favourite Story list.**

**Enjoy :)**

* * *

><p>I sat on the Hogwarts Express, with Neville, Luna and Harry, because Ron and Hermione were in another compartment with the other prefects again. I reached into my shoulder bag for my book when the conversation died down, and I was annoyed to find an envelope stuck in it. I yanked it out to put it back in my bag, when I saw Sirius' writing on it.<p>

_4th January, 1996.  
><em>_Ginevra,  
>I know I tell you this pretty much every time I write to you, but you've changed my life in ways not even Cassandra Trelawney could have predicted, and I will forever be grateful for that. I know that this Christmas holiday has been marred by your father's attack, and the fact that I'm not allowed out, so I couldn't even get you a gift, but it has been <em>my_ best Christmas for a very long time.  
>I know I'm rambling a fair bit, but Remus hasn't been about for a week and I'm not sure when he'll be back, so I don't know when I can write to you next. The point is, I'm really going to miss you, and I was hoping you could come back for Easter, if your mum would let you. I think they might be staying for the Order anyway, but I'd really like to see you. I don't think I can wait six months for you to come back over the Summer.<br>__By the way, I forgot to tell your brothers to be a bit more sneaky with their so-called experiments, but I was on the receiving end of yet another ran from your mum, so kindly remind them.  
>There's not really anything else I can tell you that you don't already know, or that we don't have ages to tell stories about.<br>__So, with no love sent, as usual,  
>Sirius.<br>P.S: Just as a little afterthought, do you know how hard it was to choose a book to hide this bloody letter in? In the end, I clearly decided on this one. You must lend me _The Picture of Dorian Gray_, though, if you ever pick it up and find the letter 'hidden' inside. I do enjoy reading _Oscar Wilde_, even though he was a Muggle. Anyway, that's all I can say really._

_9th January, 1996.  
><em>_Sirius, you daft mutt,  
>You couldn't have just <em>given _me the letter like any normal person? Honestly. I'll Owl the book over to you when I'm done. I'll send it to Mum to give to you, most probably, because it'll just be easier. I'll be as subtle as I can. We've not yet started learning how to conjure a Patronus with Harry, so I'll let you know as soon as we do. Personally, I don't think he's going to start it until summer, because everyone knows how advanced they are.  
>Have you ever read <em>The Picture of Dorian Gray_? It's a really good book, actually, and it's a genuinely interesting book. Hermione recommended it, and apparently, it was used against Oscar Wilde as part of his trial in 1895. It's pretty saucy at times, and quite scary too, and I think you'll appreciate some of the themes within it. I know I did.  
>Anyway, the usual, no love sent nonsense,<br>Ginny.  
>P.S: I'm glad it took you ages to find an appropriate book to hide your letter in, it serves you right for trying to be sneaky.<em>

_13th February, 1996.  
>Ginevra,<br>I am so sorry this letter has taken so long to send, but Remus didn't get back until about four days ago, and he was hurt quite badly. I'm sure Hermione will go into the details with you, so there is no need for me to. By the time you read this, I'm pretty sure it will be Valentine's Day, so I'm going to say, Happy Valentine's Day.  
>Well this is a little bit stupid, considering that by rights, I should be with you. However, I do hope that you have a really good day nonetheless, though I suppose you will be spending it with Luna and Amelia. Oh no, that's not right, you said that Colin had asked Amelia out. So just with Luna then. If this letter hasn't been tampered with, you will have a small box next to you or in front of you, or wherever. If not, well, I am furious and can do nothing about it.<br>__Enjoy your day, and know that I will be thinking of you for the whole day.  
>With Love,<br>Sirius._

Ginny opened the small box that had indeed come with the owl. In it, there was a silver pendant with a star attached to it. In the middle of the star was a small diamond, and it glittered in the weak February sunlight on Valentine's Day morning. Ginny took the necklace out, and put it on, giggling quietly when the surprisingly warm star hit her chest lightly. She lifted the box to put it away and heard it rattle when she moved it, so she opened it again, and was gasped when she saw a shiny gold Galleon lying at the bottom of the box.

"Oh Sirius," she sighed.

I grinned when I heard my name and fingered the photograph of us. I was glad she liked it. She deserved to have everything that possibly could make her happy. The truth was that I loved her as a best friend and a girlfriend, and I was certain that I was also _in_ love with her.

_15th February, 1996.  
>Sirius Black,<br>You amazing, beautiful, _perfect _man. Thank you so, so much for that beautiful necklace. It's absolutely wonderful. Did you put a Heating Charm on it? Because it was warm when I put it on. Oh, happy Valentine's Day my darling. I miss you so much, and now I have another thing to forever remember you by. Honestly, it's beautiful, but it didn't cost too much, did it?  
>And the Galleon, as well as that beautiful pendant (which I never take off, by the way). I feel overly spoiled, and yet I couldn't find anything that I thought you'd like. I am still looking, of course. Maybe I'll have to take a day trip into Diagon Alley with Hermione during the Easter holiday to find something.<br>I never did get to spend the day with Luna, because she had gone to Hogsmeade with Neville. I don't think it was a date, because Luna claims not to believe in 'dates', but she came back a lot less coherent than she normally is, and she was really and truly smiling. Truth be told, she should smile more often. But you know how you said you were going to think of me all day? Well, the same went for me, and I really did.  
>I can't believe you sent me 'love' – you <em>never _send me love! I suppose it is a one time thing for the so-called holiday, right? Either way, it was nice to receive 'love' from you.  
>So with Love gladly returned to you,<br>Ginevra.  
><em>

I smiled when I gave Hermione the letter to send off, and she smiled back, reaching out her hand to take it. The charm bracelet her parents had given her for her sixteenth birthday had a new addition to it. There was a platinum crescent moon attached to the pretty golden links of the bracelet.

"Hermione Jean Granger, what is that?" I asked, grinning wickedly.

"A Valentine's present that I received from an _old_ friend. He thought it would be appropriate, given... well, you know." Hermione replied, blushing prettily.

"Very appropriate," I replied. "It's lovely."

"Thank you, it is isn't it? I noticed a new addition to your jewellery collection as well. It's beautiful. It suits you. Considering the sender of that, I think it's perfect." Hermione noted, before taking my letter and going off to the Owlery.

_22nd March, 1996.  
><em>_Ginevra,  
>It's been a while since we last spoke, hasn't it, but please don't think I was ignoring you. I've been really busy with the Order, and none of us have been risking writing letters to anyone, because the Ministry is definitely snooping. I don't know if you heard about Hedwig? She got injured, because the way we're hearing it from Kingsley, Harry and his friends' mail is getting intercepted. It is not safe to write you at the moment, hence why Remus and Hermione are barely writing to each other, so I will hope that I see you very soon.<br>Floo connections are being watched as well, so don't try and Floo me either. I have missed your letters, Ginevra, and more importantly, I have missed you. You are an incredible young woman, and no, the sent love was not a one-time thing. I'm worried about how long I have left before I am caught again by the Ministry of Magic, and this time, they will either kill me or give me the Dementor's Kiss straight away. It is not safe for any of us that are either in the Order, or your DA.  
>Please be careful, Ginevra, I do not want to lose you.<br>With Love,  
>Sirius.<em>

_28th May, 1996.  
><em>_Sirius,  
>I did as you asked, and I've not written to you for two months. I am so sorry for not being able to see you during Easter, I did try, but Mum refused to let me. We learnt how to cast the Patronus, by the way. Mine is Snuffles. I really have no idea what that means, whether it's influenced by you or not but it probably is, thinking about it. What was yours before, and what is it now?<br>I've been very careful to not send too many letters. I did hear about Hedwig, and I can see why they're targeting Harry, Ron and Hermione – they want information about Dumbledore. I suppose you already knew that though. Listen, I want you to tell me straight away if something happens to Mum, Dad or Remus no matter what the repercussions, alright? I need to know.  
>I've missed you too, but please don't talk like that. If you've lasted this long, there's no way they will catch you. You say you don't want to lose me? Well I sure as hell don't want to lose you, so don't you dare get caught, you understand? I'll never forgive you if you do, Sirius. I hope I see you again soon, and it better not be on the front page of the <em>Prophet_.  
>With Love,<br>Ginevra._

_20th June, 1996.  
>Ginevra,<br>I hope this letter finds you well. Things are getting tense within the Ministry, and Kingsley told me about what happened with Dumbledore. I am in no way ashamed to say I laughed when I heard that Minerva knocked Kingsley unconscious. I have a request of you, love: keep an eye on Harry for me, please. I don't think he's safe anymore, and I know that it's not Dumbledore's fault he had to vanish like that, but now Harry has no protection. I know you can't do much, but please just do the best you can.  
>Do take care, and I will do the same, Ginevra. I'll do my very best to not get caught, but should it ever happen, or I ever be killed, you must go on with your life. You're only young, fifteen in less than two months, and you have your whole life in front of you.<br>I hate to end this letter on such a morose note, but there's nothing that I can say. Things are not good within the Wizarding World, and I can guarantee that things will only get worse. People are going to die again – a lot of people.  
>Take care of yourself.<br>With Love,  
>Sirius.<em>

I sealed the letter and cast the usual charms upon it whilst anxiety gnawed at me from every direction. It was worse than before, because I knew how much had been lost, and how much more there was yet to lose. The names were starting to pile up again, and I scoured the obituaries every day to make sure that no one from the Order was in there, or any of the Weasley's, or Hermione, or Ginevra. I was much more than worried, and I didn't know how long it would be until I literally went mad.

"Oh Merlin, Ginevra, I love you." I said, before I heard Buckbeak crow from the top of the house. I grabbed my wand and ran up the stairs as fast as I could. I wrenched open the door to my mother's old bedroom to see the Hippogriff's wing broken. "Buckbeak!"

* * *

><p><strong>Ah man, I'm both looking forward to and dreading the next chapter. It'll be in Sirius' POV in case you were wonderingconfused. Leave me a review, because I am a Niffler, and reviews are shiny, valuable things.**

**Til next week!**

**Lottie.**


	11. Battle

**Hello, it's another Tuesday, so another update is here. However, this chapter very nearly didn't get uploaded due to just how ill I am. My nose is blocked, my throat is swollen so I can barely speak, I have what feels like a permanent headache, and I constantly feel sick - that is how bad I feel. I actually came justthisclose to going to bed without updating, but I felt like it was cruel for me to do that, so here I am. **

**Okay, so thanks to ACID-0.00-Hanafubuki, mew-tsubaki (who also added this to Story Alert - thank you so much!) and 713BlackIce13 for adding this to their Favourite Story lists and and Pumpkin-patch95 for adding this to Story Alert. I love all of you. A lot.**

**Also, I apologise to most of the people who reviewed the last chapter, because I purposely didn't reply to the majority of reviews I received. The ones I didn't reply to were asking if I was going to kill Sirius, and I didn't answer them because I knew that if I did, I would let my plans for this slip - and that would be very wrong of me, very wrong indeed. So that is my only reason - please forgive me.**

**This is a ridiculously long A/N, so I'll leave you to actually read the fic now. Enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Kreacher! Who were you talking to?" I asked the dirty house elf sharply. I'd just finished tending to Buckbeak, whose wing had been broken and I had a feeling that the injury was deliberate. I knew for a fact that it definitely wasn't me who hurt him. I heard Kreacher talking to someone in the kitchen as I came down the stairs, and the house elf opened the kitchen door with a malevolent smirk on his gnarled face just as I got to the door.<p>

"No one, Master, only myself." Kreacher replied, bowing low to the dirty ground so that his long nose brushed it. He was muttering something about me angrily, though it was, for once, too quiet for me to hear. I hated that filthy house elf with a passion. Ever since I was a child, Mother used to tell Kreacher to punish Regulus and I if we misbehaved, and since I was the more rebellious out of me and my dear, well behaved brother, I was punished a lot more than him. I felt like the ugly old house elf enjoyed beating me far too much, and he used to do it with an amount of vigour I never saw when he beat Regulus. I hated him as much as I hated my dear old Mum, which was a lot. I might not have had the physical scars from the beating any more, because they were very well healed, but I remembered it clearly. The cuts and welts and bruises that used to litter my back and my legs were always perfectly healed exactly twenty-four hours after I received them, meaning that no trace of my abuse could be seen on my skin. However, as much as I hated to admit it, the emotional scarring was still very much there. I was pretty sure that the beast knew it as well, and if he did, he certainly took a vindictive pleasure from it.

"Did you harm my Hippogriff?" I asked, letting the disgust show on my face as I got rid of the bandages and wash-rags with which I had been treating the poor Hippogriff's wing. There was a surprising amount of purplish blood that had issued from the injury of the creature, and I wondered if it would be wise to get Hagrid to come and have a look at Beaky's wing.

"No, Master Sirius. Perhaps it bit itself." Kreacher replied slyly, with an air about him that told me that he didn't give a flying fuck either way.

"_Right_. Well, out with you. I don't want to see you flitting about in here." I snapped. I sat at the kitchen, attempting to read a book Hermione had left behind, and thinking about how long it would be until I saw Ginny again. Long since the cup of tea I had made had turned stone cold, I sat at the table. I sat reading the same line over and over again, unable to read any further. _And then he disappeared and ceased to exist in this time, only to reappear twenty years later with no explanation as to why or how he had gotten there. _If I was a superstitious man, I would say it was foreshadowing due to the amount of times I had read that one sentence, but I barely had time to form the thought when Remus burst into the room, panting like he had been running for an hour. His face was flushed, and slightly sweaty, so his longish greying hair stuck to his forehead in separate locks. He leant one hand on the table, with the other clutching his side. He opened his mouth to speak when there was a loud crack, and a swish of long black robes to signal the arrival of the great greasy-haired prat, Snivellus. He eyed me with disdain.

"Severus, what-?" Remus tried to ask, but Snivellus interrupted him rudely, in a cold tone of voice.

"Lupin, you're to get to the Ministry immediately. It seems that Potter has had a vision of Black in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry of Magic, while the Dark Lord tortures him. It is a vision that is of course, false, however the Death Eaters were lying in wait. It seems that the Dark Lord used the connection between his and Potter's minds to plant this mental picture there, and Potter has – quite typically, I believe – gone to save the day," said Snivellus, his lip curling.

"You mean to say that Harry's gone to the Ministry to get ambushed by a bunch of Death Eaters? And you didn't think to stop him?" I roared, furious. I would have attacked him there and then if it wasn't vital that I go and help Harry.

"Well, you see, I would have, but I've only just had time to alert the proper people. Dolores Umbridge requested that I give her some Veritaserum under which she was to question Potter about whom he was conferring with in her fireplace. It seems he tried to contact you first, Black. Oh no, Black, that's not all, or even the worst of it. He's taken five other students with him! He's almost as reckless and uncaring of other people's lives as his fa-"

"No!" Remus cried. "Severus, what five students have gone with him? It's vital that we know before we get to the Ministry."

"Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, and Ginevra Weasley," said Snape. I felt my insides turn as cold as ice with a feeling of dread settling within my stomach. I looked at Remus, who looked how I felt.

"We've got to go," I said hoarsely. "Where did you say they were, Snape?"

"It's not really your concern, Black. You can't go gallivanting into the Ministry, you fool. You're a wanted criminal!"

"Well you can't go, can you? You don't want to risk your own greasy neck!" I shouted. "Remus, what the hell are you waiting for? Get the fuck out of here and help them!"

And Remus did. He Apparated out of my kitchen before I had finished the sentence, and I was left with Snape, alone.

"If I were to go to the Ministry on the Order's side, I would be murdered before I could say my last words. If I were to go on the Death Eaters' side, the Ministry would order my imprisonment."

"Either way, it's an improvement," I said lowly and viciously. "This is your fault. You stopped giving Harry Occlumency lessons. If you had carried it on, he wouldn't be at the Ministry now."

"He wasn't making the slightest bit of effort in those lessons! You need to wait for Dumbledore to come here to tell him to go to the Department of Mysteries."

"Ha! The hell I'm staying here. _You_ stay!" I said loudly before grabbing my wand and Apparating out to the Ministry. I felt the familiar tug at my navel before I could hear any sort of admonishing reply from Snivellus. I appeared right next to Harry, and I dragged him out of the way of a hex from Lucius Malfoy, before running back where I'd come from. I stood right in front of Malfoy, who looked shocked to see me. I grinned at him manically. "Dear Lucius, how good to see you again. Now get the fuck away from my godson."

And I punched him in the face, sending him down like a stack of books.

"Sirius!" Harry gasped. I turned back to my godson, still grinning and wrapped a protective arm around him. Seeing my godson alive and barely injured made a wave of fury directed at my house elf wash through me. _Harry_ was who Kreacher was talking to! Kreacher gave Harry false information, information that led Harry right here to the Ministry, and to so much danger.

"Yep, it's me. Right, you need to get the others and get out of here. Floo back to Hogwarts, fly, do anything, just get out of here." I said, blocking another hex as Harry fired back his own. I would have been lying if I said I wasn't having the most fun I'd had in months, but I still had to get my godson _out_ of the Ministry before Voldemort showed up. Despite what Dumbledore was saying, I knew that Voldemort _would_ be showing his face around here soon enough, and that it would end badly for any and all when he did.

"No, I want to stay and fight with you." Harry said stubbornly, sounding like both a petulant child and his wonderful father at the same time.

"Harry, you _have_ to go. Take the others with you, and just go back to Hogwarts. At least try and get the girls out of here. They're a lot more vulnerable and a lot more susceptible to attack, especially from the male Death Eaters. Get them, Ron, Neville and yourself out of here. You've done beautifully, but I'm here now, and the Order are here. Let us take care of things now, alright? I'm so proud of you." I said, firing a spell at Malfoy. I took a moment to have a look around, and I saw everyone duelling one another. Remus was battling Dolohov with a fierce passion, while Tonks was taking on her Aunt and my cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange. Luna and Neville were dragging an unconscious Hermione out of the firing line, while Ron sat giggling on the floor stupidly, though he had nasty welts on every visible inch of skin. I looked around for Ginny and saw her standing on one leg with a grimace on her beautiful face while she was helping Tonks duel my darling cousin Bellatrix, Voldemort's psychotic right-hand woman. The fact that Ginny was injured was enough to make me want to murder the person to hurt her, and I knew that Bellatrix would focus on that to find and end to her means. I barely had any more time to think about either woman, though, as Dumbledore made his grand entrance amongst the yells and the flashing lights of curses and spells. A pair of Death Eaters tried to scramble out of his way, but he seemed to just flick them aside, leaving them unconscious on the ground on either side of him. He strode down the stairs, past Harry and Neville, whose legs were now dancing uncontrollably as a glass orb – the prophecy – smashed beside them. I was still duelling Malfoy, and only half watched as Harry came running down the steps, past Dumbledore, who was duelling three Death Eaters single-handedly to stand by my side.

"No!" I cried as Malfoy tried to lunge for Harry, but I Stunned him and watched him collapse on the ground. Bellatrix stood in his place, and she started firing spell after spell at me, mostly the Unforgivables, which drew out my barbaric pleasure again. Bellatrix was a bitch to duel, and I was having so much fun while I pushed Harry behind me, and I blocked each and every one of her curses. I was laughing harder than I had in years as I fired back a few of my own. I knew she was getting frustrated, but also that she was taking her time in order to really start getting back at me for every bad thing that had happened between us as kids, and in Azkaban. She was mad in more ways than one, and she was determined to get her revenge. I blocked her spells, pissing her off as much as possible before I decided to taunt her.

"Come on, you can do better than that, Bella!" I crowed, truly enjoying myself, and laughing like a maniac. For an instant, Bellatrix stood before me, and I pushed Harry back behind me, from where he was trying to help me fight off Bella, who was almost flying around the room, Apparating so fast I that couldn't keep my eyes on her. I caught sight of Ginny from the corner of my eye before I saw my cousin stop in front of me again and scream out a spell. The surely manic grin on my face slipped as I heard the words and saw the flash of light.

"_Avada Kedavra!_"

It would have been pointless to raise my wand as the jet of bright green light hit me. I felt my breath hitch in my throat as I stumbled back; though I was shocked as it happened because I knew I shouldn't have been able to stumble anywhere. I'd been hit with the killing curse, there was no way in hell it was possible. I shouldn't have even been able to think about it. I felt a coolness at my back, and voices beckoned to me as I rose and then flew back through the chilly air streaming out at me from the archway. I heard James laughing and Lily scolding, and Harry yelling. I heard many an old friend calling to me, begging me to join them, telling me that they knew I was innocent. I heard my own brother apologising to me in a thick voice. However, the last thing I remembered was Ginny's anguished scream echoing through the Death Chamber. I wanted to call out to her, tell her that it was fine, but she vanished from my sight even as the thought crossed my mind. A cacophony of voices beckoned to me again, with James at the forefront, goading me onwards – or perhaps backwards, I couldn't be sure.

* * *

><p>"<em>Sirius, my old friend!" James laughed before hugging me tightly. "You're old!"<em>

"_Merlin, James! It's been nearly fifteen years, of course I'm bloody old. I've missed you." I replied, hugging him back as hard as I could and feeling my eyes prickle with tears._

"_Oh Sirius, I'm so sorry you had to go to that awful place. I wish you had told Dumbledore about the Switch." Lily said, crying as she pushed James aside to envelope me in a suffocating embrace._

"_It's okay, Lily. I- hang on. I'm seeing you and touching you, and talking to you. Merlin, I'm dead, aren't I? Properly and actually dead." I replied, after releasing Lily. She stood next to James and laced her fingers with his, sobbing even harder, though silently. She tucked a lock of thick red hair behind her ear as James spoke._

"_Sirius, mate. You need to understand something. Time passes differently here. By rights, we've only been here about two weeks. It converts to roughly a whole day up here per year down there. Once we got over the shock of it, we watched over you, Remus and Harry as much as we could. The thing is, you need to look inside yourself. Me and Lily, we tried to get out of this place, trust me. But it was our time when we died." James said._

"_No it wasn't. Are you trying to tell me that at twenty-one years old, it was your fucking time to die? I don't think so." I scoffed, though James looked deadly serious._

"_It really was our time. But you need to look inside yourself and decide whether this is your time. We've been watching, and trust me, there are some things I did _not _want to see, mate, but I really don't think you were supposed to die. I'm not saying I don't want to see you, mate, I do, but I really don't think you should be here."_

"_Nor do I, Sirius. We know how to send you back, but it's going to take a week to prepare. So seven years will have passed down there. You can take a day or two to decide, because it's a big decision, but we need to know whether you want to, and soon." Lily said sombrely._

"_If you can send people back, why didn't you two come back?" I asked._

"_Oh, Sirius. One of us would have had to stay behind; you can't send yourself back. But like James said, we were meant to die. In the end, we knew Harry was okay. We wanted to go and meet him, but he's nearly of age now – he's grown up. We're just grateful that we got to talk to him yesterday. It was wonderful," said Lily._

"_It's not your time, mate, I'm telling you," said James. "But you do what you need to do. We won't judge you either way. Listen, it's just after midday, so let's catch up, yeah?"_

_Lily smiled at me sadly. "Harry's going to miss you terribly."_

"_I know," I replied. So would Ginny._

* * *

><p><strong>There it is, there's the twist. You'll have to wait until next week for other news and whatnot. Leave me a review - I promise to answer each and every one I receive for this. I really want to know what you guys think.<strong>

**Until next week then,**

**Lottie.**


	12. Losing Him

**I know, I know... it's not Tuesday. However, I really felt like this should be up today, I'm not quite sure why. I'm also thinking of perhaps extending this fic a little further than the full 16 chapters I had planned, though I'm going to take a little more time to really think that through.**

**This early chapter is actually dedicated to Paulaa90 for her ongoing enthusiasm and support no matter what. I absolutely adore her reviews because they always have a slightly fangirly edge to them, which pretty much always makes my day. You rock, Paula!  
><strong>**A big special thanks to Joleigh13 as well, for very kindly telling me that my last chapter wasn't exactly up to scratch. I really appreciated that, because it was constructive and though you might not have meant it to be, it was nice to read. I like to know whether I'm doing good or bad, so thank you so much for that.**

**I'll stop rambling now - enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"<em>Avada Kedavra!<em>" Bellatrix Lestrange screamed. Everyone froze what they were doing at the words and looked on in wonder to see whose fate had been sealed so horrendously. A jet of green light hit Sirius straight in the chest. The smile slid from his face as he stumbled backwards, and I heard Harry yell something out. Without meaning to, I screamed. But then no one could stop it from happening – Sirius just fell through the old stone Archway. I craned my neck to try and see him come out of the other side, but he'd just vanished. I knew, when he didn't come out the other side, that he was dead. Merlin, he'd been hit with the Killing curse, so he was dead anyway. There was no denying it. He was gone. Broken ankle forgotten, I lunged forward, only to be pulled back by Tonks. Bellatrix had disappeared, and Remus was trying to hold Harry back. It was only when Harry had broken free of Remus' strong grip and dashed madly after Sirius' murderess that Remus had realised that his last friend was dead. He sank to his knees with a look upon his face that was similar to how I felt, and though I don't think he realised it, he howled. Tears poured down my cheeks like a waterfall, and I could vaguely hear Tonks muttering thickly.

"He's gone. Merlin, he's... Sirius," muttered Tonks, over and over again, while I sobbed my heart out, lamenting the loss of the one person who I thought would always be around. I couldn't imagine my life without Sirius so soon after he entered it. Remus stumbled over and collapsed on the floor next to me, white-faced, while I was struggling to keep my breath even. Around us, Death Eaters were Disapparating away, while a few of the Order members took care of the remaining few who were unconscious. Kingsley and Mad-Eye were arresting the unconscious Death Eaters, including Lucius Malfoy, who Antonin Dolohov had attempted to drag out of the Death Chamber to little success. Dolohov had been duelling Remus mere minutes before Bellatrix did her worst. I looked at Bellatrix's neice, the Metamorphagus, whose appearance changed even as I watched. Her hair lengthened and curled and turned the deep ebony that _his_ hair was, and her normally violet eyes reverted to a natural grey that shimmered like liquid silver with the tears that began to course down her cheeks thick and fast.

"Remus... He's gone..." Tonks said thickly, her voice leaden with complete disbelief. Perhaps she too had not expected him to go so soon.

"I know, Dora... I know." Remus said, as he placed an arm around my shoulders. Luna watched, silent, next to Neville as my very soul was being torn to shreds. I tried to focus on Tonks, but everything was turning black around the edges of my vision.

"Sirius," I whispered, before two bright blue eyes framed with half-moon spectacles locked onto mine. Dumbledore looked at me, his face full of pity.

"Ginevra, drink this. It will send you into a dreamless sleep," said the old wizened man, a sad smile on his heavily lined face.

I shook my head slowly. "No, sir. I don't want to go to sleep. I want to see... I want to go back to Hogwarts."

"And you'll go to Hogwarts, Ginny, but listen to Professor Dumbledore, okay?" asked Remus coaxingly, though his voice audibly shook. "Just drink the potion."

"No, Remus... I don't want to. I want..." I trailed off, not able to even register what I was looking at.

"We know what you want, Ginevra, but you have to listen to Dumbledore now. It's what he would have wanted," said Tonks firmly. She had never addressed me by my given name before, and it shook me out of my stupor.

"What he would have wanted was to be alive. He would have wanted to make sure Harry was okay. He wanted to live and he wanted to be free!" I screeched.

"I know, Ginevra. Just drink this, it will make you feel better," pleaded Dumbledore. I looked from his face to the small phial in his hand. With a tight chest, I took the phial and downed it in one. Feeling incredibly groggy, the last thing I noticed was the whole world tilting at an odd angle.

* * *

><p>I opened my eyes to see a bright stone ceiling in a sunny, cavernous room, meaning that I was in the Hospital Wing at Hogwarts, Dumbledore sitting beside me. I suddenly remembered what happened at the Ministry, and my stomach sank with pure dread when I remembered what happened to Sirius. I prayed that it was all just a nightmare, and that Hermione was about to have another mini-breakdown over her last OWL exam. My eyes were shut tight, hoping that it wasn't true, that maybe I had been hit by a mis-fired spell and that it was just a really bad dream.<p>

"Professor Dumbledore. What happened? I... please tell me it was a dream, Professor." I finished quietly.

"I'm sorry, dear child. It wasn't a dream. I know now that you loved him and that you two were having a secret relationship. It's going to be hard. I can honestly, though regretfully, tell you that. I do, however, have every faith that you'll get through it. You're a Gryffindor, Ginevra, you can get through everything." Dumbledore replied sombrely, his bright blue eyes having lost their twinkly effect.

"So it was real." I said numbly. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes, Ginny. He's dead."

"Oh." I replied, looking around, as though I expected him to leap out from behind one of the partitions around the beds and laugh at me for being stupid enough to really believe that he was dead. I could barely breathe – my whole chest felt constricted, like someone had taken me apart, but put me back together without reconnecting my lungs. "Sir, that night... When he didn't come out of the other side, when I saw Remus howl like that, I felt like my very soul was being ripped to pieces."

"If I'm right, and I normally am, then something different happened to it. It wasn't ripped to shreds, anyhow," replied the old man simply. I looked at him in a way that I hoped conveyed that I wished for him to continue his explanation. "You've never lost a loved one before, and because he was your partner, it made the suffering so much worse than it should have been. Your soul did mourn his loss, it did lament his death. You soul may have withered slightly. No, not died dear child, just withered. It would have... hmm... aged somewhat. No human being should ever physically watch their closest loved one die, meaning that it would age in a way that humans age. For example, your physical appearance is smooth and unmarred, whereas I am scarred, and very wrinkled. So seeing Mr Lupin's reaction to yesterday's events had certified the fact that Sirius had indeed died, which clearly had a profound effect on your soul. However, it wasn't torn apart. I must tell you this, Miss Weasley, no one was supposed to die. I did not intend for this to happen."

"It's not your fault, Professor. It's not even Harry's – we believed that the vision was real. It's Tom's fault for planting the scene in Harry's head." I said tiredly, staring at my covered feet.

"That is most noble of you, Miss Weasley, but I should have foreseen that something like this would have happened. Sirius never was one for following orders, even back in his First Year here. He was a truly admirable man, and he was incredibly loyal to those who deserved, and were lucky enough to have his trust and his love. He was kind, and energetic and brave – men like him shouldn't be locked away like he was. I'm sorry you have to go through this so young, child. I'm even more sorry that this isn't the first time you've been so lost in your emotions." I saw Dumbledore's wizened old hand come into view, patting my knee gently before rising as though he were about to go sweeping out of the Hospital Wing.

"Wait, Professor!" I called. The old man stopped and turned around with a question on his face. "Will the truth be told about him? Will everyone know that he was an innocent man who had done no wrong. It doesn't matter if he's gone, his name should be cleared and it's better now than never, isn't it?"

"It already has been, Ginevra. I certainly made sure that Cornelius Fudge knew the entire truth. It would be wise for you to read the _Daily Prophet. _His memory will be honoured by that at least. He's a free man now, and were he here to see it he would be happy at last. The truth about him was owed to those who were closest to him, and thankfully the whole world knows it too." Dumbledore said, leaving the Hospital Wing, and leaving me to my thoughts.

In truth, I really wanted to blame Harry for Sirius' death. I wanted to scream and shout from the Astronomy Tower and beat Harry to within an inch of his life before Healing him and doing it all over again. But if I was being totally honest with myself, the people that I had to absolutely blame were these three: Tom Riddle, Bellatrix Lestrange and Kreacher, Sirius' bloody house elf, who had told Harry an outright lie about Sirius' whereabouts. Tom Riddle made it possible that Harry would have to check whether Sirius really was in Grimmauld Place before running off to the Ministry. Bellatrix Lestrange cast the actual curse that killed him, taking my world and turning it on its head. I wiggled my feet experimentally. My ankle was healed, which was one thing less to worry about. I sighed.

"Ginny," called Luna quietly, sitting on the bed beside mine. "I heard you talking to Professor Dumbledore. You were unconscious for a few hours, apparently, but I've only just managed to get up here. It seems that everyone wants to know what happened at the Ministry of Magic yesterday – people are actually talking to me for once! I'm almost popular, can you believe it? How... how are you feeling?"

"Like I wish it were me who had died in that Chamber." I replied quietly, hollowly, frowning at my feet.

"Madam Pomfrey told me you were going to be in shock when you woke up. She told Professor Dumbledore that she knows about you and Sirius Black, and that she expected nothing less in your reaction to... losing him. Were you close to Mr Black?" Luna asked quietly, her bright blue eyes boring into mine. It was actually comforting, to have Luna's odd presence.

"Are you alright, Luna? I know that you were injured yesterday. Is anyone else up and about, or is it just us?" I asked, feeling my throat close up. I saw Luna look at me, and I felt a warm, comforting embrace wrap around me, though she was still sitting on the adjoining bed. I wondered idly if it were Luna's magic doing so.

"Well I know that Hermione is still unconscious, as is Ronald, but Harry and Neville are awake and perfectly healthy. Neville apparently feels incredibly guilty about the smashing of the prophecy yesterday, though I've not seen him at all. Harry is in mourning. I did see him at the top of the Astronomy Tower. There is a rumour that Mr Black was Harry's godfather. Were you in a romantic relationship with Mr Black?" Luna brought a blunt, truthful reality to the situation, which was refreshing, though when needed, she could be subtle about things.

"The rumours are true about Sirius being Harry's godfather. Please tell me that Harry didn't pitch himself off of the Astronomy Tower though. As for Sirius and I... yes, we were together. Just don't tell anyone, alright? Ignore me if you want, but I think I need to tell someone about him. He was innocent all this time, Luna. He was funny, and he was outright beautiful. He was moody – a lot – but with his lot in life, I wasn't surprised, you know? We got on so well, because we shared the same sense of humour. He was incredibly smart, and one of the most loyal people I have ever, and maybe will ever meet in my life. He was basically locked up in his childhood home, and he absolutely hated it there both as a child and as an adult. He would have done anything for his friends, and the people he loved. He was a genuinely good man, Luna. He was unique, and he was wonderful. I... I just can't believe he's really gone. He was so young." I let out a strangled cry of despair, and Luna stared at me, with not pity but empathy on her face, which helped me to stop the tears. "There will never be another like him. He was perfect, perfect in his own right and perfect for me. I will never love another man like I love him. I had less than a year with him and now he's gone. Just... thanks for listening to me Luna. I think it would be good if I was alone right now. I want to go back to my dormitory and have a shower. I might go down to the kitchens afterwards and get something to eat."

"Alright. I'm so sorry for your loss, Ginny. He sounds like a really nice man, and you didn't get enough time with him. But, the ones we love never leave, even if they just leave the land of the living. You can always find them in your heart and in your mind."

I nodded and smiled weakly in response and heard her walk away, humming an odd tune as she went. I swung my legs over the hospital bed and made closed the partitions around the bed area before putting my clothes back on and grabbing my wand. I walked quickly and quietly out of the Hospital Wing and back to Gryffindor Tower, quite unable to respond to people wanting to know what happened at the Ministry. I spoke the password quietly to the Fat Lady, who swung forward and let me climb in. I ignored everyone and just went straight up to the bathroom that joined onto the girls' dormitory. I stripped my clothes off and stepped under the hot spray of the shower, washing dirt and blood off of my body, and washing my hair thoroughly. After a while of standing beneath the water, I shut off the shower and cast a drying and warming charm on myself, before wrapping a towel around myself and walking into my dormitory. Rooting through my trunk, I found a set of every-day robes to wear and tugged them over my head before flopping down on my bed. I rolled onto my stomach and slipped my hands under my pillow, feeling a sharp edge bite into my finger. I gripped it and pulled it out, studying the object and feeling a tightness in my chest that made my breath hitch and my eyes prickle. Staring at the photograph, my eyes welled with fresh tears again and I watched as Sirius and I embraced and laughed before touching our foreheads together in an obviously very loving gesture. However, I noticed that this photo was much more worn than mine, and I stuck my hand under the pillow again, only to find a small scrap of parchment.

_Ginny,  
>This was on the kitchen table at headquarters. He was looking at it again, before we departed for the Ministry. I thought you should have it, and know that this was the last photograph he ever had taken of him in his life. It's obvious in this how much he loved you, and I know you feel the same.<br>I'm so sorry for everything that's happened, and I want you to know that I am always here when you need me, because you might want to talk about him and know some more about what made Sirius who he was.  
>I'm here any time,<br>Remus._

I read the note once, twice, three times. And then I clutched the parchment in one hand, and the worn photo in the other and I lay back down on the bed and cried for everything I had lost, and everything I had yet to lose, feeling more hopeless and dejected than I ever had before. The sobs wracked my body and made my chest ache.

* * *

><p><strong>Well that is that. The next chapter will actually be up on Tuesday, because I have more than a few creaes to iron out there, and trust me, it'll take a while. <strong>

**As usual, let me know what you're thinking, because it helps me to make this a better fic for _everyone_, so drop a review!**

**Lottie.**


	13. Eight Years

**Last week, this chapter was only three pages in it's Word document. Now, it's eight pages long. Quite fitting, actually. This has been edited so much, and I've read it, re-read it and read it for a third time. I'm quite proud of it, to be honest. Anyhow, this is the chapter that we've all been waiting for.**

**And so I say: enjoy!**

* * *

><p>It took me a while to become myself again after Sirius died at the Ministry. On the outside, I was still the same old Ginny I had always been, but on the inside I was still very much broken. It felt like everything I saw was reminding me of him. Everything from the stile at the end of the high street in Hogsmeade, to the Black Lake reminded me of him, and I hated it. I wanted out. I didn't want to remember him any more because it made everything hurt that much worse. I would wake up, attempt to eat something, cry from the grief I felt, go to classes, cry again, attempt to eat, and go to bed again. It was only after Dean Thomas asked me out that I realised that I couldn't mope for the rest of my life. It wasn't what Sirius would have wanted. And maybe it would be nice for me if someone paid me some attention for once. So I took a deep breath and said yes. Hermione reprimanded me for it, telling me that it was far too soon for me to try and start dating again, but who was she to tell me how to live my life? Maybe I was being reckless, but for once I didn't care. I wasn't cheating – I was at perfect liberty to date who I liked.<p>

But things soon fell apart with me and Dean. He seemed to be under the impression that as a girl, I couldn't do anything on my own, and the attitude annoyed me. In the end, after he tried to push me through the portrait hole, I dumped him. I decided that I didn't need a man to complete me, or a boy. I was happier on my own, I adamantly stated to myself.

And yet it was only days later that Harry Potter himself kissed me. I won the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor as an acting Seeker while Harry was in detention. Again. It apparently came to no one's particular surprise when Harry kissed me in my Fifth year. Ron reckoned that he had been anticipating it since we first met Harry on Platform 9¾, but then he didn't know about my nine month relationship with Sirius. As we were celebrating our spectacular (if I do say so myself) victory, it just happened. Wolf whistles had rang out in the silence following the kiss, and though my twelve year old self was ecstatic, my fifteen year old self was just confused. I still loved Sirius more than my own life, but I was alive, and he was dead. I couldn't spend my life hoping that he would come back when even Harry had accepted that he never would. So I kissed Harry back, and had the relationship that Sirius told me I should have with Harry before I ever had anything with Sirius to make him retract his wish. And I'd be lying if I said Harry wasn't different to the other boys, that it was nice to be with him. We got on well and we had undeniable chemistry, leading to unrelenting guilt on my part. Harry was as much a friend to me as he was my boyfriend, and it became so easy to spend time with him and just relax. Hermione said nothing about me being with Harry, and I wasn't sure whether I was relieved about it or not. I hoped that no matter what, she'd have my back, and she did.

Harry and I had had a good month or so before he broke up with me and went off hunting Horcruxes, taking Hermione and Ron with him. Dumbledore's death had hit Harry hard, and it was easy for him to go and do the noble thing. After all, Noble was practically Harry's second middle name, after everything he had done for the Wizarding World. No matter how noble he was, I knew I'd never love him how I loved Sirius, but I learned to love him in a similar way, and I was happy with him. But he he had to do what was expected of him, and so I let him go. I worried about him and Hermione and Ron during their year out, even though I had my hands full. I took over the DA alongside Neville and tried to keep everyone safe from the Carrows while they 'taught' the entire student population of Hogwarts. It was awful, and it only got worse as the Carrows changed 'Defence Against the Dark Arts' to simply 'Dark Arts'. But Neville wasn't the constant I needed in my life when he showed his true Gryffindor bravery, striking out against them when they wanted us to cast the Unforgivable Curses on First years. His bravery was admirable and true, though he got punished badly for it, eventually driving him into the Room of Requirement where he was joined by pretty much half of the school. I, however, was not allowed to go back to Hogwarts after Christmas. I was held against my will at Great Auntie Muriel's house when pretty much the whole family went into hiding. All Muriel ever did was complain, while I was subjected to stories of how wonderful Rita Skeeter was and "juicy" stories of Dumbledore's family and Godric's Hollow. If it weren't for the fact that I was waiting every day to hear news of Harry's death, I would have gone back to school and tried to help Neville. After all, he could hardly do it alone – especially when Luna hadn't come back to school in September. I did wonder if perhaps she and her father had gone into hiding as well, or whether something worse had happened, but I didn't want to try and contact her in case they too were being hunted. After all, old Xeno Lovegood publicly backed the Boy Who Lived for years. However, in May, I was reunited with my noble ex-boyfriend after he showed up to destroy the penultimate Horcrux. My family joined the Order at Hogwarts, and I was dragged along, only to be told to remain in the Room of Requirement by almost everyone. But I was Ginevra Weasley and I wasn't a coward, so when Harry evacuated everyone from the Room of Requirement with Luna Lovegood of all people (even I was stunned at her sudden reappearance) so he could make it turn into something else, I took the opportunity to join the fierce Battle that had ensued.

It was within mere hours, rather than the day or two Harry had predicted, that the Castle was swarming with Death Eaters firing careless curses at anyone they could aim their wands at, and Harry had vanished as quickly as he'd come back while I duelled, blocked unfriendly spells and weaved around sheer magnitude of bodies, both alive and dead, within the Great Hall. I saw various Order members and staff trying to get the younger kids and the untrustworthy Slytherins out. I very nearly ignored the sight of Remus duelling Dolohov, but he looked as though he were weakening, so I snuck up behind Dolohov, avoiding curses and flying bodies as I crept.

"_Expelliarmus_!" I screamed over the cacophony of screams and yells, and Dolohov's wand flew out of his hand, allowing Remus to catch it deftly. "_Stupefy_!"

Dolohov crumpled to the floor in a heap, and Remus looked at me with a face full of gratitude woven into the dirt and blood and worry-lines. "Ginny, thank you, but you need to get out of here! It's not safe for you."

"Like it's any safer here for you!" I shouted hoarsely, duelling a nameless Death Eater alongside the werewolf. "I might have just saved your life, you know. _Reducto_! I can't lose you too, Remus, and Hermione would never forgive me if I stood by and let it happen. _Tarantallegra_!"

"Well thanks. _Petrificus Totalus_!" Remus cried, pointing his wand over the top of my head. We linked hands and ran through the battle, ducking and weaving through the outright chaos, only duelling when we absolutely had to. After a few minutes of this, though, the whole Hall quieted, and my head was invaded by Voldemort, making me clutch at my ears as though it would block his presence from my mind. He told us that we had an hour to tend to our wounded and dead and to hand over Harry, or we would all die. And then he was gone. Remus and I looked at each other before we walked through the mass of bodies while the Death Eaters sycophantically returned to their master. I saw a splash of bubblegum pink among the greys, blacks and browns.

"Merlin, Tonks!" I gasped, dropping to my knees next to her lifeless body. I felt Remus collapse on the ground on the other side of her body, and saw his bloodied hand clutch her pale arm. I closed her terrified, unblinking eyes and brushed a long strand of hair away from her chubby face. I knew what Tonks had gone through to try and persuade Remus to be with her romantically, not knowing that he was already happily with Hermione, and I was surprised that her hair was pink, instead of the awful mousy brown it had been for months. How was it that she had achieved a happiness that allowed her to be herself? If she had found love right before she died... I couldn't finish that thought. It reminded me too much of Sirius. I looked up, my eyes swimming with tears for the loss of the likeable woman before I saw a group of redheads across the hall. I knew instantly that my family was there, and dread filled me faster than I could blink. "Remus, I need to see what's happened. Stay with her."

I got up and walked unsteadily to my family. They were all crouched on the floor, and I only saw a pair of feet sticking out of the group. There was enough of a gap between all their red-haired heads for me to get a glimpse of a jacket. Lime green. Dragon-skin. I stood over my family and saw a white face with an ear on either side. Fred.

"Ginny..." Mum said through her tears, and I sank to my knees between her and George. I couldn't hear anything else through the pounding in my ears, and I sat, stunned as I stared at my brother's dead face. My eyes flickered to up to the remaining twin, who looked as shocked as me, and he was just as tearless as I was, too. I reached out a hesitant hand, and he grasped it tightly, as though I was the thing that was going to wake him up from a nightmare. I stared down at Fred again, as Mum clutched his hand, sobbing, while she held Ron, who was sobbing as much as her. My brother. My poor, poor brother.

"Fred..." I whispered and the walls crashed down around me. Everything I had worked so hard to find meaning for had suddenly been lost again, and I was as lost at sea as I was two years before. George looked at me, and within the few minutes I had been knelt next to him, he had paled significantly, to the point where he looked as though he had died too. If he had two ears, and lay down with his eyes closed, I'd have trouble telling him and my dead brother apart. I stood up, unable to look at him anymore, and ignoring the weak protests from my family, I walked away and went to help tend to the wounded, casting the _Ferula_ charm countless times, and casting other Healing charms that made some cuts Heal – almost be knitted back together. I needed to help anyone I could who was still alive. After a few minutes, I saw my family put Fred to a peaceful resting place – beside Tonks, I gathered – before they all came to help Heal the injured. I felt rather than saw Harry pass by me, but when I looked up he was nowhere to be seen. The Cloak, I instantly remembered, and I let him do what he needed to do while I continued tending to the wounded. I knew that he couldn't be seen in the Hall, after all, there was no telling of the reactions he might have gotten. After a while, there was marching and raucous laughter from outside, and all those who were still able to fight ran to the entrance hall of the castle. Hermione stood next to Ron, her wand held high before she looked my way. We shared a look that spoke volumes about the uneasiness we both felt. I nodded at Remus, who ran alongside me, and we stopped in our tracks when we saw Voldemort and his enormous army. Hagrid was walking alongside Voldemort and Bellatrix, looking distraught and carrying a sort of bundle in his huge arms. He was sobbing.

"Remus, what is that?" I whispered, looking up at the werewolf while terror filled me. "What is that Hagrid's carrying?"

"I don't know," replied Remus quietly, but he looked troubled. We didn't have long to wait however, as the army fell silent from the screeching and the laughter.

"Harry Potter is dead!" Voldemort cried out, and the mass of Death Eaters laughed raucously once again. I felt my throat close up, and a figurative hole appeared to have been punched through my chest, leaving me hollow once again. I shook my head from side to side. _Not Harry too. You already took Sirius and Fred, don't take Harry too, _I mentally begged. I caught a glimpse of Harry's pale face. His eyes were closed and his glasses crooked.

"NO!" I screamed, running forward, but Remus grabbed me around the waist, stopping me from running forward. "No, Harry... No!"

"Ginny, stop. There's nothing we can do now." Remus murmured urgently into my ear, though I still struggled against his grip.

"You foolish girl," said Voldemort loudly and mockingly. "You think you can bring him back by screaming for him? He is dead, girl. The only person who can survive Death is me! I have won."

"No you haven't! We might have lost Harry today," shouted Neville, pushing through the crowd to stand by my side. I vaguely noted that he was holding Godric Gryffindor's sword. "But it doesn't mean you have won. This War is not over. We've just lost another great man, is all. The World doesn't stop revolving just because someone dies."

And then, just like that, Harry had scrambled down from Hagrid's arms, very much alive, and the War had begun again with a renewed vigour. The most disturbingly memorable part of the War had been Voldemort's enraged, but anguished shout when Neville beheaded his dirty great snake with Gryffindor's sword, and I watched as the whole thing burst into a menacing cloud of thick black smoke. It wasn't until later on that I discovered that it was a Horcrux. Soon, I found myself face to face with Bellatrix Lestrange – the woman who had killed the love of my life. I battled her fiercely, doing everything I could bar kill her. I wanted her to stay alive so I could torture the evil whore. I could smell blood, and if I got my way, I would smell more. It would be hers, and it would be caused by my wand. Yet, I wasn't allowed to finish her. My mum pushed me out of the way and finished her, while I seethed. I wanted to be the one to do it. I wanted to destroy Bellatrix's life like she had mine, but I was occupied with duelling another Death Eater, before the chaos dimmed when the Dark Lord was finally ended.

(page break)

"I can't believe it's been six years," said Hermione on May 2nd 2004. The Wizarding World had completely finished repairing itself after the amount of blood spilled on that fateful day all those years ago, but it was over. We had won, though we had paid a terrible price to have done so. Hermione was sat next to Remus, sipping a coffee, while Harry and Ron were talking about what they would do after finishing the final few raids on ex-Death Eaters. Though most of them were in Azkaban, there were still a fair few on the loose, and the Auror Department of the Ministry (along with several other Departments) were rounding up the last dozen or so, though after six years they were pretty good at hiding.

"I know," I said. "It's not been easy. I'm so glad the last of the repairs are completely done, though. I remember how sick of Healing those builders I was because they were too stupid to look at what they were doing. The Department of Post-War Repairs should have just hired new people and had done with it."

"Oh, come on now, Ginny. You just said it yourself, it wasn't easy in the slightest. There's still a lot of strain on everyone at the moment. So Healing the builders might have been a menial task, but would you rather we saw a repeat of six years ago?" Remus interjected, while he played with a lock of Hermione's hair. "You should count yourself lucky that you only went through the two years of Healer training than the standard four."

"Well the Weasley name actually counts for something now, and everyone knows about my relationship with Harry. They were never going to make me do the full four years anyway, if you think about it. Being the girlfriend of the Boy Who Lived Twice Over, and a War Hero myself, I would never have had to work another day in my life and yet here I am, on my day off, four years later." I replied, smiling. I looked down and saw my pendant sparkle in the warm sun. I still wore it all the time, though it had been more than eight whole years since Sirius had been killed. My justification that was I had nothing else that I could remember him by, other than that sodding photo we had had taken, and I could hardly have stared at _that_ all day. I had hidden that photo somewhere incredibly safe, where nobody but myself would ever have found it. I turned my mind back to the conversation I was having. "But then again, none of us would have had to. Especially the Boy Who Lived Twice Over."

"What did you say about Twice Over?" Harry asked, putting an arm around me. I let my finger drop from it's preoccupation and I looked up at him.

"We were talking about my measly two years of Healer training, Harry. The work was absolutely crap." I replied. "Actually, speaking of work, how's the Ministry going, Hermione?"

"I'm actually glad you asked, because I have an announcement. Well, we," replied Hermione, correcting herself while she smiled at Remus.

"Oh Merlin, you're pregnant." I blurted out. Hermione and Remus exchanged alarmed glances, before they turned back to me, Harry and Ron.

"What? Of course I'm not, Ginny. That's not what we're telling you, we've only just gotten engaged, for Merlin's sake. Right, to get back to the news, Remus and I were promoted to joint Head of Department of the newly named Department of Alliance Between Magical Creatures two years ago, as we all know. We went through all of the conferences, where we addressed some of the existing problems in regards to those who suffer from Lycanthropy, and the unfair way some house elves are treated, as well as a whole host of other problems. However, even after the two years of hard work, we had never got the result we really wanted... until now. A bill is being passed through the Ministry in only a few weeks time to give complete equality between all werewolves and humans. It looks like it's definitely going to go through, and it's only the beginning. We plan to do much more for all the other Magical Creatures too."

"Oh, congratulations, you two!" I cried, getting up to hug both of them. "That's such good news! I definitely want to come to celebrate, so give me the date and I'll book the time off work. I can't believe I thought you were pregnant."

While the others continued to talk about the amazing opportunities that were sure to come about for Remus and Hermione, my gaze dropped to my left hand. Lily Potter's engagement ring sparkled happily in the sunlight and my mind turned to the tremendous changes that had occurred in the past three years alone. After the War had ended, Harry had definitely made sure that Sirius' name was cleared after going under Veritaserum to tell the truth about what happened. Ron had become a temporary partner in Weasley's Wizard Wheezes while he did his Auror training (and remained so for a while after), and only Hermione out of the 'Golden Trio' had joined me for my final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry so that we could complete our full magical education. I hadn't gotten off lightly, though. I had had to be on Anti-Depressant Potions for months after the War, and I went through severe counselling, which had wounded my pride, but I still went and carried on with my dream of being a Healer. After I had completed my Healer training, Harry had taken me out to a posh Muggle restaurant for dinner to celebrate, and he proposed to me over the desert. I said yes to him, because it was the obvious answer, and I didn't mind spending the rest of my life with Harry. He was an excellent man, and a loving boyfriend (and then fiancé), and he was well-liked by almost everyone. We had yet to set a date for the wedding, even though we had been engaged for three years, much to the annoyance of my mother. Remus and Hermione had only just gotten engaged, though everyone expected it to happen once they had found out about their relationship. When I'd brought it up with y best female friend a few years before, Hermione had shrugged and told me that "there's no rush", which was absolutely true, hence the reason for Harry and I taking the engagement slowly. I did love Harry, though it wasn't in the way everyone had thought. My fingers twisted the ring round and round on my finger as I pondered my relationship with Harry. I often considered telling him about my history with his godfather, but I always countered the thought when I would realise how heartbroken and betrayed he would feel if he ever knew. It would be something that he wouldn't forgive very easily, and I would be a fool to think that he would be okay with that fact about my past. I looked back at the simple, though quite large, diamond ring. Harry had said that "it's beautiful, just like you, and it would look absolutely perfect on you if you would do me the honour of becoming my wife". It was one of the few moments that Harry was intentionally incredibly romantic, and I would be lying if I said that I hadn't melted just a tiny bit when he said it. I smiled again at the memory.

My eyes flickered up from my ring and I looked around the Alley. There were lots of faces, including some small children that were still too young for Hogwarts, and there were some familiar faces. It was only after a minute of gazing around the packed magical centre of London that I caught sight of a head of slightly greying ebony hair. The hair was down to what looked like a man's shoulders and it was beautifully curly, with each lock shining brightly in the sun. The owner of the head turned around and my jaw dropped as I felt an incredible weight of tension fall heavily on my chest. Lifting both hands to rub at my eyes, I looked again to see the face of Sirius Black fill with regret, hurt, and the undeniable happiness before his silver eyes were staring back into my disbelieving brown ones. I stood abruptly, hearing my chair fall to the ground with a clatter and I ran as fast as I could down Diagon Alley, ignoring the stares and mutters that followed me. I stopped clumsily in front of Sirius, tripping over my own feet before I caught myself.

"Tell me it's really you, and that I'm not seeing things." I begged, not listening to the sound of my broken voice. I took in the pained expression on his beautiful face, the faint lines, the jet black stubble on his chin and the liquid silver eyes.

"It's really me, and you're not seeing things." Sirius whispered. His eyes flickered downwards and he grimaced as though he was in pain. "Though I am. Nice rock. It's Lily's, isn't it?"

My face fell from the bright beam it had formed upon Sirius' admittance that he was really here. Hurt washed through me like a tidal wave me before rage quickly replaced it. "What was I supposed to do? Tell Harry no? Grow old and die alone? I thought it was impossible for you to return from the dead, Sirius, though you seem to have defied those odds as well. Don't stand there after nearly a fucking decade and comment on the fact that I'm engaged! It doesn't fucking work like that."

"I see you're wearing my pendant too. It suits you. I was looking forward to seeing it on you with my own eyes." Sirius told me, gazing at me steadily. It felt like he was staring into my very soul.

"Don't change the subject," I hissed venomously. "How is it that you're back after eight years? I saw you die! How in Merlin's name is this even possible? I saw you _die!"_

"I didn't think it was possible either, but I can explain it all, I swear. Please, Ginevra. Merlin, I've missed you." Sirius' voice cracked, and I looked at him for a few seconds, unable to form any words.

"That's not an excuse!" I shrieked, feeling my eyes prickle with tears. "Do you know how fucking torn up I was? Do you even have any sort of idea what I _felt_ like after you died? Do you know what _happened_ after you died? Do you know how hard that was? I lost my brother, Sirius, and I'd lost you, and I even thought I'd lost Harry for a while, too! How is it possible that you're back after _eight years?_ How is it that you haven't aged? Actually, forget all of that! Do you know how much fucking _counselling_ I had to go through just to make sure I was _sane_?" I exclaimed in a scream, raging on while he stood before me, silent and unmoving. When I stopped talking, he opened his mouth again.

"Ginevra, darling... Ginny, I promise I will explain everything to you. Please, just... just come here." He begged, and I hesitated for only a moment before I considered him again and my right hand closed into a fist and drew back. His eyes held only the briefest shock before my fist snapped forward to connect with his nose, breaking it. Blood spurted out of his nose, and I regarded him while his hands clutched at it.

"What the hell was _that_ for?" Sirius asked incredulously in an extremely high-pitched squeal while he fixed his nose and cleaned off the blood. I had half a mind to break his nose again. It might have given me an extreme sense of satisfaction.

"That was for leaving me for eight years and coming back now like everything's going to still be the same as it always was! That was for making me feel like I was being constantly hounded by a fucking dementor! That was for everything I've been through since you _died!_" I screeched. I felt an arm snake around my shoulders, and I whirled to see Hermione stand behind me. Her face was set in a deep mask of shock, and the motion of comforting me appeared to be almost mechanical. Her lips were moving, but no sound came out.

"Ginevra, don't do this to me. Please. You think I haven't missed you? Please, sweetheart. Please." Sirius said, on his knees with his hand clasped.

"I'd be hard pressed to believe that you did miss me," I replied thickly, feeling the tears dribble down my cheeks. "After all, people that miss other people don't leave them for eight years and then attempt to reassert themselves in the other person's life."

"Ginevra, please. I love you. Please." He stood up then and held his arms out. There was only a tiny flicker on his face that showed any doubt. I didn't care that I was joined by a stunned Harry, a confused Ron and Remus, who didn't appear to know how he felt. It was _Sirius_, and he was more important than any of them.

I looked at him, and my heart broke. Nothing mattered anymore now that he was back, I realised. He was back. The void that had been left in my life had been repaired. I was complete again. Of course nothing had changed – of course I still loved him. I threw my arms around him and squeezed him as hard as I could. I thought my ribs were going to crack as he held be back just as tightly. I drew back with a smile on my face, and I chuckled at the tears that were shining on his cheeks and I didn't have time to think before I kissed him. It was like having chocolate again after fifteen years of boiled cabbage, and I couldn't get enough. His hot tongue invaded my mouth, and he tasted of cranberries, I noted stupidly. It was perfect, and I could barely believe that I had missed out on it for so many years.

"What the fuck is this?" Harry yelled, and I fell out of Sirius' arms and gazed into the face of my fiancé, upon which was the most disgusted expression I'd ever seen. Harry walked a few steps closer. His expression changed from disgust to sorrow as he looked between me and Sirius. "What the actual fuck?"

Sirius took a step towards Harry, his hands held up in a signal for peace, but my fiancé recoiled, leaving Sirius to look lost and alone, before he turned to his best friend. His beautiful face still shone with tears, and he looked lost. His gaze dropped to mine and he pulled me up to my feet before looking back at Remus. I looked at Remus too, and took in the stunned expression that was neither happy, nor angry. No, the lycanthrope looked more lost than anything else. Hermione took a step forward and laced her fingers with his, staring between the two men. She turned her eyes to me, and I knew that we were feeling exactly the same notes of apprehension and confusion at the tension between the two men. They were the best of friends, it should have been easy for them to make up and be everything that they always were.

"Moony..." Sirius started.

"Padfoot."

"I'm alive. I'm back."

"I... Fuck." Remus said quietly. I completely agreed.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh my, this was so hard to write! Let me know what you think, as usual. :)<strong>

**Until next week,**

**Lottie.**


	14. Return

**Hello one and all! This chapter required A LOT of editing, and what with school, I was worried I wouldn't get this in on time, but here it is! I did it! Yay me :) I also noticed that I only originally wrote one more chapter and an epilogue for this, but I really think I'm going to have to carry this on. If I don't do it as part of this fic, it will definitely be as a multi-part sequel, because I do love this fic, and I think it's too soon to have to say goodbye to Ginny and Sirius' relationship.**

**Big thanks to MegPearl and ALICEBRODA for adding this to their Story Alerts.**

* * *

><p>"Fuck," said Remus quietly.<p>

"Remus. How are you?" I asked. My eyes found my godson again, and he looked as though he were being tortured. I looked back at my best friend and held my arms out. I expected him to walk into them again like he did after I escaped from Azkaban, and I wasn't disappointed. He stepped three paces forwards and we clutched each other tightly. It might have only been a week for me, but for him it had been eight years, and I could tell that he had really missed me due to the fact that he was using his werewolf strength to squeeze me to death (excusing the pun, of course) in his arms. There was muttering through the crowd and a few giggles and sighs could be heard. I heard the click of a camera, but I ignored it.

"You come back after ten years, and you ask me how I am? Is that some sort of sick joke? You can't just... what the fuck, Sirius?" He asked quietly, releasing me from his bone-crushing embrace.

"'Course not Moony," I replied with an easy smile, which was returned with a menacing glare from my best friend.

"Hey! We can't do this here. We need to go back to Harry's house. There are too many spectators here, we have to get out of this place. We need to _talk _this out, all of us. There's a lot to be explained, from _all_ of us." Hermione interjected, looking at me pointedly, though a soft smile was etched in her young face. I nodded back firmly, pleased to see the famously bright girl.

"No. Not my house." Harry said hoarsely.

"Harry, it's the only-" Ginny started, but Harry interrupted.

"Don't talk to me. I don't want to hear a word from you."

"Hey, now! Don't talk to her like that!" I exclaimed, putting a protective arm around her shoulders. She shrugged off my arm and her brown eyes blazed warningly at Harry. I was apparently the only one who noticed that her wand had been drawn and was hanging loosely by her side. I took a tiny moment to stare around the Alley, where almost everyone was silently observing the exchange between the six of us. A few people shrank back from my gaze, though others held it fiercely. I had a lot of things to explain to a lot of people.

"Will all of you just hold onto me? I know where we can go, alright? Everyone, including you, Harry, needs to grab onto me now." Hermione said. I gripped the same arm Remus and Ginny were hanging onto, while Ron and Harry took Hermione's other arm. I felt the familiar pull of Side-Along Apparition, and suddenly, we were standing in a small kitchen. I let go of Hermione and shuddered before looking around the small room. It was painted in a pretty jade green, and was tiled neatly. The while tiles were bright and shining because sunlight from the large window was reflected on the ceramic. Everything was spotless and had its own place. I decided that it had to be Hermione's house we were in, because I knew that no one else – not even Remus – would be that strictly perfect. "Right, everyone, sit down around the table. We need to talk this out. Sirius, could you start by telling us what happened when you fell through the Veil, please?"

I took a deep breath and sat down on a surprisingly comfy chair. "You have to bear in mind that time passes differently where I went. Every day up there converts to a whole year down here, so I've only really been gone for just over a week." I had the attention of every person around that table, reluctant though Harry's attention was. "Right. Well. I remember Bella hitting me with the Killing Curse, and being able to just stumble back and into the archway. I fell through it, and I was... well I saw James and Lily again. We spoke about everything that has been going on. They were watching over all of us, and they have seen _everything_ that has happened in the past eight years. So have I, by the way, but we'll come to that later. James and Lily told me that they knew of a way to go back, but it takes two magical people to be able to send another magical person back, and the ritual can only be done the once by each magical person that participates in it. They told me that it wasn't yet my time to die and that I had to come back here, to you. The ritual took seven days, so it was seven days for it to effective, though it was equalling seven years down here. I had to take a day to catch up with James and Lily and to decide whether coming back was really what I wanted."

"Hang on, my mum and dad are still up there? Why aren't they coming down?" Harry asked angrily.

"Because they are both convinced that they did die at the right time. They were thinking of you, Harry, when they told me they couldn't come back. You're a grown man, and you have faced things that few other people have. They didn't think it was fair to you if they came back. Not to mention, they are both still only twenty-one. You're twenty-three. It would be too strange for you _all_ to cope with – both you and your parents. There's something else you and Ron should know too. Ginny and I, before I was killed by my cousin, were having a relationship. And by the looks of things, neither of our feelings have changed. We need to address this." I said, waiting for the explosion I expected to come from either of the boys. I mentally shook myself then. They weren't boys anymore, they were fully grown, successful, _rational_ men. I knew how proud James was of them both, even though he had never met Ron, and probably never would meet him.

"Hold on, you said that me and Harry should know," said Ron, speaking for the first time since my return. His face was ashen, and his hair contrasted his skin in a way that would have been funny in a less serious situation. "Hermione and Remus already knew?"

"Well, yes, because they got together only a short while before me and Sirius," said Ginny. "I'm so sorry we didn't tell any of you, but we just couldn't. I was only fourteen, and Sirius was thirty-five. The only reason Remus and Hermione knew was because they were in a similar situation to us."

"That's where your necklace came from," said Harry. I nodded at Harry while Ginny didn't move. "I just can't believe you didn't tell me. We've been together for six years, and you didn't fucking tell me that you had it on with my godfather."

"Hang on a minute. We _didn't_ have it on. We never had sex to be able to have it on." Ginny argued. Harry made an exasperated noise and dropped his head on the table before groaning in pain.

"Listen, I don't expect you to be okay with any of this, Harry. I wouldn't be if I were in your shoes, but I never expected to go to the other world, and leave you all for eight years. I have missed you all so much, and I've seen how much you all lost while I was gone. Harry, you must know that I didn't want any of you to get hurt." Harry snorted at my words. "I really didn't."

"Fine, you didn't want for anyone to get hurt. I can see where this is going now. Ginny, give me back my mother's ring. It's over between us. You clearly want to be with him. It was always him, I guess. I know you won't deny it, because if it wasn't him, you wouldn't have thrown yourself at him the way you did. You guys are meant to be together, I understand, I get it. It's also why you didn't want to get married, why you've been putting it off, isn't it?" Harry said.

Ginny took off the ring and gave it back to Harry sadly. She nodded firmly and her still-long hair swung, shimmering in the sunlight. "I'm so sorry, Harry. If I had even the slightest idea that he would ever come back, I never would have gotten with you in the first place and I would have spared you all of this hurt. You are an amazing man, Harry. I may not have been able to love you the way I love Sirius, but I was still happy to have the chance to spend the rest of my life with you. I truly regret that I couldn't."

"So you really and truly are choosing him?" Harry asked, sounding more child-like than I ever had heard him before. My chest tightened for a moment while I took in the expressions on the faces of everyone at the table. Would she change her mind? Would she do the right thing and choose Harry out of all this? My questions were answered when Ginny's fingers laced with mine on the smooth mahogany table.

"Yes, I am," she said simply. "I love him, and that hasn't changed in the ten years he's been gone. It never would have changed."

I smiled at her brilliantly, and received a winning smile in return. "I feel exactly the same."

"Sirius," choked Remus. He stood up, and I walked around the table to envelope him in another hug that was not dissimilar to the hug we had shared, I supposed, ten years before. Moony almost crushed me again, and I hugged him back as hard as I could. I wondered whether his superior strength would break my ribs before I firmly pushed the thought from my mind. He was my best friend, and he was seeing me after I had died. I needed to let him have this moment, and any others he needed after he's lost it all. There was a resounding crack ringing through the room, and Remus and I separated to see that Harry had gone.

"Fuck." I muttered, the same way Remus had only about an hour before.

"I'm sorry, but I need to go and see him. Ginny, I'll be having words with you soon. Sirius, you can expect me to find you later on this week. Gin, I'd also watch for Howlers if I were you. I guarantee that there will be someone in Diagon Alley that Mum talks to that saw your... reunion, and I bet you it won't be pretty when Mum finds out. I need to go. Bye." Ron said in a rush, glaring at me and sending an unreadable look to the others before he too Disapparated from Hermione's kitchen.

"They'll come round, Sirius. It'll all be fine," said Hermione quietly in the silence that followed Ron's departure. She smiled, and Remus sat back down beside her, though she stood up about ten seconds after he had. "Let's go into the sitting room, it's much more comfortable in there."

We all followed her into the room, which was much larger than the kitchen, and it was unique in colour scheme. It seemed that Hermione hadn't been able to choose a colour, so she had painted swirls of every colour on one of the white walls, while the others were completely bare other than a few picture frames. Adding to the crazy colours were two blue sofas, two red armchairs, a yellow pouffe and beech furniture. It was as opposite to Hermione as it could have gotten, and I thought it was marvellous. I remarked as much as well, earning a laugh and a blush from Hermione.

"So how come you two aren't married yet?" I inquired. Ginny and I had sat on one of the blue sofas while Hermione and Remus had sat on the other one. Ginny's now cherry-scented hair was cascading down my right arm as she leant against me.

"There's not really any rush. We're happy as we are, why change it?" Remus replied, smiling, but he shrugged his shoulders.

"Are you really telling me you don't want to call her 'Mrs Lupin'?" I asked, laughing. Ginny chuckled beside me, and I kissed the top of her forehead.

"I would love to call her Mrs Lupin, but there's no rush. Besides, Kingsley would have a field day with that." Remus laughed.

"Kingsley is the Minister of Magic," Ginny informed me quietly. Then turning to her friends, _our_ friends, she said, "Excuse us, but Sirius and I need to talk. I hate to steal him from you so soon after he's come back, Remus, but we have more than a few things to iron out from the past eight years. Do you mind if I steal him for today? You can have him to yourself tomorrow, or maybe the day after?"

Hermione snorted. "Right. You're going to talk? And I'm a flobberworm."

"Shush, love. They're trying to protect our virtue. Take him for today, Ginevra Weasley, but I want him back in one piece," said Remus. Hermione snorted again. "I get it. Go on, you two. We're coming for dinner tomorrow though, alright? So make sure you're done 'talking' by then."

"I will, mate. It's good to see you. It's good to be back, despite the mixed reception." I said regretfully, hugging Remus and Hermione in turn. "Though perhaps me and Ginny shouldn't have started snogging in the middle of Diagon Alley."

"Alright, bye you two. See you tomorrow!" Ginny said, before grabbing her wand and Apparating us out of the house. We landed in a fairly large sitting room, that was a significant amount blander than Hermione's, though it was nice in it's own way. The walls were cornflower blue, and the skirting boards and doorways had been painted silver. "This is my flat. We're in between Diagon Alley and St Mungo's."

"Why don't you live with Harry?" I asked.

"He's away too often, rounding up stray Death Eaters, and his house is still quite creepy, despite the fact that Harry had it completely redone. I like this little place. It's bought, not rented, so I can do whatever the hell I like to it. This is my home. This is where I can be me. No pretences, no lies, no false smiles. I can be free here." Ginny told me. "Anyway, we need to talk."

"Hang on. I have one question. Where's Harry living?"

"Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place. He only lives there because he wanted to be closer to you and your memory. I didn't want to be there with him, because not only am I much happier here, but I didn't feel like I'd be able to hold any of it in if I was surrounded by you and your stuff. It would have hurt too much. Now we have to talk."

"About what?" I asked apprehensively.

"You. Eight years, Sirius! Do you have _any_ idea-"

"Yes! I have a very good bloody idea, because I had to sit there and watch it all. The other boys. _Harry_. I watched as you did everything but sleep with him. I felt sick, watching you even hold hands with him, and yet what could I have done?" I snapped. I felt sick again just being reminded of it all and I sank down onto the sofa, rubbing a hand over my face.

"Do you know why I never slept with him?" Ginny asked me quietly.

"I thought you wanted to wait for marriage. Didn't you?"

"I was stalling. I felt unfaithful to you all that time. I tried to tell myself that I wasn't being unfaithful at all because you were _gone_. I might have told Harry that I wanted to wait until we were married, and 'do things right', but I was just praying that I would wake up and feel differently about going the ultimate distance with him. The amount of times I had to imagine your face when I was doing countless things with him is just absurd. I had to force myself to not say your name."

"Fuck, Ginny. You'll be the death of me," I said thoughtlessly, and her face crumbled.

"Don't say that. Please don't say that." Ginny begged thickly. I realised my blunder and held her as she buried her face in my chest. I heard her breath hitch, but I watched as she held it all together and pushed it all back as she sat down next to me. Finally she looked up and took my face in her small hands, pulling it down so my lips met hers. I felt as though I had been set on fire, as I restlessly ran my hands up and down her body, finally just gripping the hem of her t-shirt and pulling my lips away from hers to pull the offending clothing up and over her head before I attacked her lips again. She ripped my shirt open, causing buttons to fly about the room. She yanked the shirt down my arms and flung it aside, while still not detaching her mouth from mine again.

"Easy there, sweetheart," I murmured against her lips.

"Oh gosh. Oh Merlin, you've only just come back and I'm _jumping_ you! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but I'm not doing this in a rush. You told me eight years ago that you wanted the first time I ever made love with you to be perfect, and not some, and I quote, 'lust filled moment'. I want you so much, but this isn't the way I'm going to have sex with you. I love you, Sirius, but the you from eight years ago had a point." Ginny adamantly stated, with an apologetic expression twisting her delicate features.

"Alright, I see what you mean. I missed you, you know?" I told her, handing her t-shirt to her with a small smile. She laughed while I repaired my shirt and pulled it on properly.

"You don't have a clue, Sirius. You've only been away from me for a couple of days, but I've not had you for eight years. It's not been easy," said Ginny with a sigh. I gripped her forearms and pulled her into my arms, holding her tight.

"Now that I'm here, I'm not letting you go. I love you."

"It took you nearly eight whole years to tell me that outright," noted Ginny, chuckling slightly while burrowing deeper into the embrace.

"I wish it hadn't been that long." I said. "I wish I never went to that other place. Don't get me wrong, it was amazing seeing James and Lily again, but we could have had so much _time_."

"We do have so much time. This whole thing with Harry will iron out. If Hermione says it will, it will. It might take a while, but he'll come around. He doesn't truly love me, the same way I never truly loved him. Me and Harry were never meant to be together, but we are. We can get Hermione to go round and get your stuff; Harry never got rid of any of it, and then you can just move in here," said Ginny firmly, positivity flowing through her voice as she spoke. "We need to talk to the Ministry as well. You're listed as dead, but now... oh for the love of Merlin."

An owl was tapping on the window. I rolled off of Ginny and she got up, fished around in her purse for eight knuts before taking the _Evening Prophet _from the owl and putting the money in the small pouch. She spread out the newspaper on the table and cursed loudly.

"Ginny?"

"Come and look at the fucking paper!" She growled. I walked over to the table and groaned. The headline on the front page was awful: _**A Black Affair With War Heroine Revealed**_.

"_That_ is the best they could have done? I thought the _Prophet _was actually getting somewhere now, and that was the best pun they could come out with?" I snorted, studying the picture of Ginny and I kissing in the middle of the Alley. I picked up the paper and read on. The _Prophet_ went into detail about Remus hugging me, and Hermione trying to reason with everyone before Disapparating us all out of there, and it was complete with pictures. I snorted again at the end of it, and shook my head at the lack of humour in the article. "Black Affair" was absolutely rubbish! "Come on, Gin. We have to get to the Ministry right about now."

"It's not funny," she said, smoothing her skirt down over her covered thighs. She stepped back into her flats and paused before easing her stockings further up her slim legs. She disappeared through a doorway, and came back into the sitting room brushing her hair, while her make-up redid itself to look smarter. I stared at her after catching the brush, which she'd thrown at me. "What? It's bad enough as it is, we can't just go and meet Kingsley looking like complete scruff-bags. Your hair could do with a brush. It's been eight years."

"It's also been eight years since I changed my shirt. Do you really think anyone's going to care what we look like?" I smirked, and Ginny snorted.

"Of course they'll care. We'll be all over the papers for weeks, Sirius. We can't go waltzing into the Ministry without a care in the world. Besides, it wouldn't look too great if everyone knew that you haven't had a change of clothes in nearly a decade," replied Ginny, spraying some perfume on her neck, before fingering her pendant absent-mindedly. It seemed like a routine, and I was about to mention it before she shook her head and smiled. "Brush your hair, will you?"

"But my hair is sexy," I remarked seriously, and she laughed. "Oh, all right."

After I'd put down the brush and found my wand, Ginny grabbed my arm and Apparated us right into the Ministry. Almost thirty seconds after we landed in the Atrium, silence echoed off of the tiles.

* * *

><p><strong>This is all for this chapter. Let me know what you think because reviews are Rubies and the Gryffindor Hour-Glass is running low on them, thanks to a few pesky first years. Can you believe that they lost us ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY POINTS? If I were their parents, I'd send them all bloody Howlers.<strong>

**Lottie.**


	15. Molly and the Ministry

**I have an important thing to say at the bottom of the chapter, so keep an eye out for the A/N there, okay?**

**Thanks to LyraStar26 who added this to Favourite Story and Story Alert - I am eternally grateful. :)**

**Enjoy, everyone!**

* * *

><p>"Come on, Sirius." I said, letting my hand slide down his arm to interlace our fingers, and I gently pulled him along. There was an uproar of shouting and insults, mainly directed at me, but I squared my shoulders and walked towards the lifts at the end of the Atrium. I didn't come to the Ministry too often, because I had no business there unless I was acting as a representative for St Mungo's, which was very rare. I almost never visited my closest friends and family there, choosing to meet them at the Burrow. I had only ever been to the Minister's office twice, and it was where I was heading at this moment, with Sirius in tow.<p>

As I tried hard to ignore the abuse being hurled my way, I couldn't help but think they were all right. It looked awful, all of it, and I'd hurt Harry more than I had initially thought. Harry was the number one hero and idol of our World, and unsurprisingly, kids these days dressed up as Harry, Hermione and Ron for Halloween. Harry was a wonderful, loyal and brave man who had seen and experienced things I could barely imagine, and he had had to shrug it all off and get on with life. He deserved someone much better than me, and yet he had fallen for me anyway. It had gotten tough since the end of the war, because of how often he was away after I finished school with Hermione; on training weekends, and hunting down Death Eaters, and on various holidays that Kingsley had physically forced him to go on, so I had come close to breaking things off. But then so had he, when during the less than frequent times he was at home with me, I had to go on work-related trips. After the War, there were a few Healer stations set up around the country, and I had personally gone to help build and set up the one in Hogsmeade with Padma Patil, who was the Head of the Department of Magical Medicine at the Ministry. I was wishing that we had caved and split up. It would have saved us both the heartache – oh yes, I too was hurt by what happened between me and Harry, but then I could hardly complain because I was the one that had done it. I had Sirius, who was the love my existence, my literal soul-mate, but Harry? He had no one to help him through except for my brother – and Ronald was hardly a woman. He'd never understand.

"You're a whore, Ginny Weasley!" A nameless woman repeated as she followed Sirius and I to the lift. I ran into the only empty lift, and slammed the gate in her face, before pressing the right button to take me to Kingsley's office.

"Ginny, don't listen to them. They just don't know the full story. Where are we going to, by the way?"

"Kingsley," I replied, smiling against Sirius' chest when he pulled me into a hug. "He's been the Minister since the end of the War. He knows us, so he'll understand a little better than most. And I know not to listen to them, but I feel like they're right. No, don't look at me like that, I don't mean that I regret _us_. I never have and never will regret it, but I really wish that I hadn't gotten with Harry. I wish me and him had broken up on the various times we were both seriously considering it. It would have saved us all so much... well, _scandal_. I don't know what the fallout will be for you, but already for me – well, you saw it. You heard it."

I could feel Sirius' hesitation, before he even opened his mouth to speak. "Do you want to give things a break? Let things die down?"

"No!" I said loudly. "No, I need you more than ever. I love you, Sirius, and I'm not going to let a horde of ignorant people dictate my life, no matter how large or cruel or influential they are. I want to be with you. If I didn't, we wouldn't be here together right now. If I didn't, I wouldn't have come so close to giving myself to you. Believe me, I wanted to and I still do. You have everything of mine except for that, Sirius. I wouldn't have it any other way."

The lift opened then, and I stepped out of Sirius arms to walk forward to Amelia, who was Kingsley's Personal Assistant, and one of my remaining best friends. "Merlin, it's not true? Ginevra Weasley, _please_ tell me it's not true. It's all over the paper, and _Witch Weekly_ has just dispatched what they literally called an 'emergency gossip alert'. And about Sirius Black? Please tell me the pictures are forged, that it's not true."

Sirius put his hands on my shoulders, and my best friend squeaked while I rolled my eyes. "Mel, if I told you that, I'd be lying to you. It's all true. Let me promise you now, I didn't intend for any of this to happen. I thought Sirius was dead, Mel. And then I saw him today, after eight years. I swear to you, with an Unbreakable Vow if I have to, that I will explain everything to you. But for now, Sirius and I need to see Kingsley, right now if possible."

"He's been waiting for Mr Black to come here as soon as he read the _Evening Prophet_, but considering your role in this, Ginevra, you may as well go on in with him." Amelia said, rubbing the back of her neck. She touched her wand to the picture of Kingsley on her desk. "Minister, Miss Ginevra Weasley and Mr Sirius Black are here to see you."

While Kingsley told her to send us through, I turned to Sirius. "She's pissed off with me. It's the third time she's called me 'Ginevra' in less than a minute."

We walked through the door and into Kingsley's large office, which if I was right, had acquired a new bookshelf. I thought to myself, yet again, that he was too much like Hermione for his own good, or perhaps Hermione was too like him. I stood in front of Kingsley awkwardly, though I normally hugged him when I saw him. Sirius stood beside me, unusually quiet. I opened my mouth to speak. "Good evening, Kingsley."

"Sit, both of you." Kingsley replied in his slow, calm voice. Despite him being one of the nicest, friendliest people I knew, the order he'd given sounded somewhat intimidating. "Why in Merlin's name didn't you come straight here? Why did I have to find out from a newspaper? I can understand why Sirius didn't think to come straight here, because of his... absence, but I expected better from you, Ginevra."

"Kingsley, I'm sorry-"

"Ginevra, I'm not done talking," replied the Minister of Magic coldly. "This could have a huge fallout. Not only will those crappy gossip magazines have a field day with this, but there could be a huge uprising within the Ministry itself, and not one we need. Sirius will have to have a hearing, and you will have to be a part of it, Ginevra. You two could have waited for your reunion!"

"Hey, now, Kingsley. We've not seen each other for eight years, what did you expect us to do?" Sirius said. "Mate, I've not seen you for a decade, could you just lay off? Besides, it was probably the best kiss I've ever had in my life, thanks, once she was done hitting me."

The man I considered to be a second father rubbed his eyes wearily. "Sirius, if the situation were different, and this whole thing with your relationship hadn't blown up in our faces, I would. By the way, I need to know what the hell has been going on so that I can make an informed decision. It's good to see you again, it really is. Oh, Merlin. Tell me everything, and spare no details."

Sirius smirked, and I squeezed his hand warningly, to prevent him from making a joke about just what details King wanted to know and he rolled his eyes. "Well, nearly nine years ago now, when we reformed the Order of the Phoenix, the Weasley's came to stay with me during the summer. You remember that, don't you? Well over that summer, Ginevra and I became close friends, and eventually got together. Romantically. No, Kingsley mate, not like _that_! Ginny and I never had sex." Sirius said, eyes wide, because Kingsley had jumped up out of his chair looking horror-struck. "We did kiss and stuff, but that was basically it. We kept writing to each other though the year, until it was completely impossible to carry on. The next time we saw each other after Christmas was at the Battle of the Department of Mysteries. When I sort of died."

Kingsley turned to me. "That's basically about it. I saw him this afternoon, and I had to see him, to see if I wasn't imagining things. And I wasn't, he was really there in Diagon Alley. After I'd calmed down a bit – because trust me Kingsley, I was _furious_ – I couldn't stop myself. It was like he'd never gone, Kingsley. I loved him before he died, and I still love him now. He says he feels the same, so there's really nothing more to it."

"I wish there weren't, but from what you've just told me, he can still be sanctioned for having a relationship with a minor, despite it being eight years ago. I... how old are you, officially, Sirius?"

"Well because time passes differently in the Other World. A day there is a year here, so I'm still thirty-six, and Ginny is nearly twenty-three, so there are only just over thirteen years between us."

"But before, you were twenty-one years older than her. And that is a rather serious offence that will be sure to come up in the hearing."

"Not if nobody mentions it," I said. Both men turned to look at me, though they wore very different expressions. Sirius looked rather proud of me, while Kingsley looked exasperated.

"Ginny, it is not only on the cover of the _Prophet _and a special edition of _Witch Weekly_, but it will most likely be in every single publication by the end of this week."

"But we've not broken the law or anything, so it can't be used against us. I was still a virgin before Sirius died!" I cried. I neglected to mention either the Chamber, or the afternoon I had very almost had with Sirius. If we hadn't stopped when we did, there would be no denying I was a virgin, and then we would be in trouble. I looked between the two men. "As far as our World is concerned, the relationship between Sirius and I is just gossip. The problem we really have is the fact that Sirius has come back from the dead."

"I believe you two, I really do, but... Ginny, Sirius, go home. I need to think of what we're going to say, or do. I might need to enlist Hermione's help. I know that she was there, as was Remus, and I know that they are both on your side, given their relationship. Just go home, and enjoy as much peace as you possibly can while you can." Kingsley said, waving us out with another deep sigh. He rubbed his hand over his face and I felt my eyebrows knit together in concern.

"I'm so sorry, King. I really am." I said as we left. All I received was a weary nod in return. I caught Mel's eye as we left the office, and she waved us over.

"You two don't need to go through the Atrium. I'm not allowed to do this, but fuck it. There's a pot of Floo powder on the mantle, which only Kingsley is supposed to use, but you two just Floo home. Gin, I'll be expecting to see you so I can get every detail out of you. Sirius, take care of Ginevra, or I will kill you. And this time, you won't come back." Amelia said, getting a laugh out of me, while Sirius gulped nervously. I took his cool hand and pulled him to the elegant fireplace, where I threw Floo powder down.

"Thanks, Mel. 33, Cressy Court, London." Sirius and I span away in a whirl of emerald flames and stumbled out of my hearth... and straight into my mother. Her face was white with rage, and her brown eyes blazed, while her bright orange hair seemed to crackle with anger. Her plump arms were crossed over her normally comforting cardigan, and she had Sirius tied to one chair, whilst I was bound into another.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, I am _furious_! Don't you open your mouth, Sirius Black, I'll get to you in a minute. Why do I have to find out from a _newspaper_ and have Ronald confirm that you have run to a _dead man_ like some sort of second-rate harlot? And if it couldn't get any worse, you're on the front page of the _Evening Prophet_ with his tongue down your throat, and _Witch Weekly_ has printed a special edition all about you two and poor Harry's betrayal! I did not raise you to be like this Ginevra Weasley, and I never thought you would be so_ tacky_ as to cheat on your fiancé with his godfather! I am absolutely disgusted with you. Your father is too shocked to even think about accompanying me here, and he's broken all of my tea-cups!" Mum screeched. I would have preferred it if she'd just sent me a Howler, because I was literally shaking with fear. I had never seen her so angry in my life, and I wondered if she _ever_ had been so angry before. "You have been in a good relationship with Harry for six years, Ginevra, and you turn your back on him after seeing a scant glimpse of an ex-convict in the street!"

"Molly-" Sirius started, but Mum turned on him with fire in her eyes. A vase behind Sirius broke, and he ducked while I shook even more violently.

"Sirius Black, how _dare_ you encourage my daughter. My _only_ daughter, and you have _ruined_ her!" My mother screamed. "Not only have you destroyed my daughter, but you have betrayed your own godson! You should never have escaped Azkaban prison! You should still be in there, rotting. How could you let her kiss you in the first place, and when did you think it was okay to have your tongue down the throat of a girl who is twenty-one years younger than you!"

"Mum will you just stop for a minute!" I screeched. My mother froze, turned slowly to look at me and looked like a furious Veela. I honestly thought she was going to murder me. "I didn't just kiss him on a whim. I love him! I have loved him for eight years, ever since we got together!"

"Ginny," Sirius moaned, as my mum outright fainted. "What did you have to tell her that for? She's going to murder me! I'll have to go into hiding again. She will actually hunt me down and kill me. And send you to a French Convent to become... what are those Muggle women who worship that god?"

"Nuns." I replied.

"Yeah, she's going to send you to France to become a nun!" Sirius said. He jumped within his chair, and it scooted and inch closer to me. He did it a few more times, but he was still halfway across the room from me. "Gin, come as close as you can. I need you to get my wand from my pocket."

For the next five minutes, we were jumping our chairs, until I could reach Sirius' wand. I got it out of his pocket and aimed it at him. "Finite!" I said, and heard the ropes fall to the floor in a heap before mine did the same. I hugged Sirius as soon as we were free. "Merlin, that was scary."

"Ugh, don't. Your parents are going to murder me dead. And your brothers. Quick, send your mum back to the Burrow and block off your Floo." Sirius said, kissing me lightly on the lips. "We can get Hermione and Remus to bring us groceries, and we'll just isolate ourselves. Or we can find a new home and live as Muggles for the rest of our lives."

"Oh, stop," I said, giggling. "We can't. I would go mad if I couldn't see everyone. And now that you're free, it would be terrible for you to do the same."

"I love you so much, do you know that?"

"I do, but it's nice to hear you say it again." I replied cheekily, winking at him before brushing my lips against his again.

"Marry me." Sirius said.

I stared at him unblinkingly, unsure whether I'd even heard him right. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Marry me. Be my wife. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Ginny. We love each other, why should we wait?"

"I would love to be your wife, and I do want to spend the rest of my life with you, but we can't just up and elope." I said.

"Why not?" Sirius challenged as he brushed a lock of hair back from my face, and let his hand rest on my cheek. I turned my head to kiss his palm before meeting his silvery eyes again.

"Because just six hours I was engaged to be married to your godson. I'm not the sort of girl who was just elope anyway. And you've not been around for eight years. We don't have a routine anymore, and we don't know things about each other that we ought to know. We've only been together properly for nine months. It's too soon, Sirius. I love you, but I'm not marrying you. Not yet."

"But what does any of it matter?"

"It matters to me! You might have only been gone eight days Sirius, but I've had to live without you for nearly a decade, pretending to love your godson with everything I had, when most of my heart was still reserved for you alone. I cried myself to sleep every night for a week when you died. You left me, not the other way around, so you need to wait for me to be ready to marry you. There's so much I still don't know, and how do we know we can pull through the shit storm we're only just entering?" I said quietly, still aware that my mother had fainted on my sitting room floor. I sank down on the floor and hugged my knees to my chest, looking around my sitting room, before letting my eyes settle on my mum, who was stirring where she was unconscious. Sirius stood near her watching me. "We need to wake her up. As much as I'd love to just stick her in the Floo and block it off, that's dangerous, and either way, she'll accost me."

"Are you sure we can't do that?" Sirius asked dejectedly, eyeing my mum with apprehension.

"Unfortunately, one hundred percent. We have to wake her up." I said. With a sigh, I stood and crossed the room to kneel next to her. She still seemed to be out for the count, so I waved my wand in an arc above her. "_Ennervate_."

My mum sat bolt upright, staring around wildly before her eyes settled on me. I'm not sure when, but Sirius had snuck out of the room, nowhere to be seen. "Ginny, dear, why am I on your floor? I had the most peculiar dream about you and-"

"Don't be silly, Mum. Go home and see Dad, alright? No, quickly, just use the Floo."

"Is he okay?"

"Of course, but you need to go home, I've got to pop out." I lied, pushing Mum towards the hearth. Thankfully, she kissed me on the cheek and stepped into the emerald flames, calling out the name of my childhood home.

Just as she started to spin, I heard an enraged shout and the flames engulfed her. Seconds later, Sirius was muttering charms to block off the Floo, and after a minute, he sat down beside me. "I'm glad that's out of the way," he said.

"Tell me about it. If we escape this alive and unharmed, I'll know there's a god."

Sirius sniggered and kissed my temple. "I'm not backing down, you know."

"Well neither am I, so that's that. I'm not eloping with you. Give me a year. Give me a year to find out everything I can possibly know, and for me to get used to the idea of really having you around and not being without you. By then, everything will have calmed down, and none one will be bothered about us and they'll find something else to gossip about. I love you, but you can't just force this out of me. A year, and then I will agree to be your wife." I said, and I felt a tear slide down my cheek when my eventual fiancé wrapped his strong arms around me on the thick carpet.

"A year," he agreed. "But you will be my wife."

"I have no doubts."

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so here is the bit where you hit me with cauldrons and stuff. I know I said that I would be continuing this story, and I really do want to, you have to believe that, but I just can't. My exams start in less than a month, and I've just been so jammed with work that I barely got this out on time, so I won't be continuing just yet.<strong>

**This is the penultimate chapter of the whole thing, all there is now is an epilogue, and I am so sorry for that. You guys honestly have no idea how gutted I am that I'm so close to the end of this, I mean I'm literally close to tears, because this is honestly my favourite of all the fics I've ever written, published or non. However, I PROMISE that over the summer, there will be a sequel to this fic, and it won't be a crappy one-shot (to everyone who has read _Give Me More_ and _Give Me A Merry Christmas_, you will understand what I mean).**

**So aside from that, I hope you are all doing well in whatever projects you are doing, academic or otherwise, and there will be a very long, heartfelt goodbye.**

**Oh, and for anybody who is on Pottermore at the moment, I am on there too! My username is _GalleonDream17595_, so add me if you want, though again, that's being put on hold for a while due to exam revision.**

**Until next week's last ever chapter,**

**Lottie.**


	16. New Life

**I know, I know. The epilogue, the end, is five days late. I know, and I'm sorry. But I got news that my great-grandma passed away last monday, and I just didn't have the heart to do the edits and get this posted. Its personal stuff and I'm so sorry. However, it's here now, and this is the best I can possibly give you.**

**Thank you to everybody, old and new who has stuck with this, reviewed, Favourite Story'd, Story Alerted and just been there to spur me on. Thank you SO SO much. Special thanks to Paulaa90 and onecelestialbeing for their particularly engaging reviews and their support all the way through this - you guys are just amazing.**

**So without further ado - the Epilogue. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>"And do you, Ginevra Weasley, vow to be faithful to Sirius Black and love him for as long as you both shall live?" Asked the Minister calmly.<p>

"I do." I replied confidently.

"Well then you shall now kiss your bride." And Sirius' lips whispered against mine as our few guests clapped and cheered. I looked on into the small crowd. Hermione was beaming beside Remus, her left hand sparkling with both an engagement ring and a wedding ring while it protected her four-month baby bump. Neville and Luna were grinning up at me, and Luna's infamous Radish earrings were swinging in a slightly creepy way. It was absolutely amazing to see her. Angelina Johnson, George, Bill, Fleur and Charlie had brilliant smiles on their faces, as did Amelia, though she was eyeing up Charlie as though he were a chocolate fountain. Kingsley was there, with Minerva McGonagall (we were very surprised when she had congratulated us). And at the very back, with an unreadable expression on his face...

"Harry."

"What?" Sirius asked, looking at me, still smiling. He looked beautiful in his grey dress robes, while I had gone for a similar style of dress that I had worn as a bridesmaid for Fleur, in a shimmering gold. My hair was pinned back in a pretty arrangement of elaborate curls, and the engagement ring that Sirius had given me reflected little rainbows around the hall in the bright sunshine.

"He's at the back. Should we?" I asked. Sirius nodded his head, and so we walked together, arm in arm down to where Harry stood. "Hi."

"Hi." Harry replied. He rubbed the back of his neck in his signature awkward pose. "I know I've not spoken to you for a year, but I wanted to say congratulations. You two are perfect for each other... anyone can see it. I just hope that you're both happy."

"We are," said Sirius. "Are you?"

"I'm alright. I went on a date last week. You remember Susan Bones, don't you?" Harry asked. I nodded. "Yeah, well, it was nice, and I'm meeting her again in a few days."

"I'm glad for you, Harry. Listen, I'm so sorry about everything, and I wish it could have been done differently. I hope it all works out with Susan, she's a nice woman, as far as I can remember, but then I've not spoken to her for years. Not that she would have wanted to seek me out and speak to me. The whole world is on your side with this. It's a shame you couldn't see Andromeda and Ted, they couldn't make it today. And Dad's too scared to sneak behind Mum's back to come to be here. I did see Mum in Diagon Alley last week and she turned and went the other way. How is she? And Ron, and Percy? I know you still see them." I said lightly. It did hurt that after everything that had gone on before the War, Percy found it easy to side with Mum on my relationship with Sirius. And because Mum was still not talking to me... well, nor was Percy. Ron was just Ron. He sent me an owl once a month to see how I was, but when I'd reply, I would hear nothing from him until the next month. I knew that if Harry came around and ironed everything out with me and my new husband, Ron would be back by my side in a heartbeat.

"They're fine, Gin. They'll come round eventually. I... Can we all meet for lunch in a few weeks? Let me know when you're both free. I want to patch things up, now. I mean, Sirius, you're my godfather. And Ginny, I've known you for what, fourteen years now? After everything we've all been through, it seems really stupid to not talk. I know it's my fault, because I haven't spoken to you and given you a chance, but life's too short, and I miss you both. We were never meant to be together, Gin, I know that. So there's really no reason why we shouldn't put it all behind us. I mean, if you're willing."

"Don't be stupid, Harry, of course we are," I answered, hugging him. Sirius did the same. "We're going away for two weeks tomorrow, but lets say we meet on July 7th? We'll be back then. How about we meet at the Three Broomsticks? I've not been to Hogsmeade for ages."

"Great. I need to get back to work, but you two have a nice honeymoon. Congratulations again." Harry said, and he Apparated out of the small hall we had booked. Hermione appeared at my elbow, and her curly hair cascaded down the back of her blue halter-neck dress.

"Was that Harry?" She asked. I nodded, and she raised an eyebrow. "Merlin's beard. What did he want? He's not spoken to any of us for a year, since he found out that we knew about your sordid relationship."

"He wants to make amends. He's putting it in the past; we're bloody lucky he wants to. It gives me hope. And my relationships have never been sordid." I said, smiling.

"Hope? What for?"

"For my mother. If Harry can come round, maybe she will too. Harry's practically her son, after all. It might all be okay again." I said, and Sirius hugged me to him. I looked up at him. "I love you."

"I love you too, sweetheart. Let's enjoy the day, now." Sirius said, and without any prior warning, flicked his wand and spun me around the dance floor as the sounds of a beautiful piano solo filled the room. A violin chimed in as Hermione and Remus joined us on the floor, twirling more elegantly than I was. "Remus always was the better dancer."

"It's like you knew what I was thinking," I laughed as Neville, Luna, Kingsley and Minerva spun their way onto the dance floor. We were joined by George and Katie next, while Fleur and Bill spun around us. On our next cycle around the floor, I called out to Charlie. "Come and dance with us! Amelia doesn't bite. Unless of course you want her to!"

Sirius and Remus groaned at the same time, and I laughed. "I reckon I have a bad influence on you." Sirius said.

I grinned wickedly at him. "Ah, but bad in a good way, right? Besides, who says I don't like your influence?"

"You wouldn't have kept me around so long if you didn't." Sirius said, winking at me, before dipping me to kiss me on the lips. A wolf whistle rang out, and I had a feeling it came from Amelia. The music died down and Sirius turned to our friends with a smug smile on his face. He dragged me along to the buffet-style table that we had and we charmed our cake in the traditional way before cutting pieces for our guests. I ate my piece and then downed a goblet of champagne before I dragged Charlie to the dance floor.

"You should give Amelia a chance," I told him, grinning.

"She's a pretty girl, but she's young."

"No younger than me," I countered.

"And you're my kid sister. You're the youngest of the Weasley clan." Charlie said, twirling me. "She's a little wild, as well."

"No wilder than a dragon."

"That's true," said Charlie thoughtfully. "But I'm away a lot."

"Mel can handle it." I said, and Charlie smiled down at me, nodding. Just then, Sirius reclaimed me, and I watched as my second eldest brother wandered over to my friend and whispered something in her ear. From the naughty, somewhat triumphant look on Amelia's face, she liked what she was hearing, and after knocking back a shot of Firewhisky, attached her lips to his. Sirius chuckled in my ear as I saw the bemused, but happy look on Charlie's swiftly reddening face. Charlie liked attention, and he was going to get it in spades from Mel.

"Can I have my wife's attention?" Sirius asked me huskily. I looked into his eyes and grinned before standing on my tiptoes to kiss him.

"You've got it, husband of mine," I replied before giving him a wink.

"Carry on winking, and these poor people will be on the receiving end of a mass memory charm."

"Easy, tiger. We'll go home soon. This is our party, we can't just leave."

"Yes we can," Sirius said. He cleared his throat to address our friends. "I am going to take my wife home, now. Carry on and enjoy the remainder of our little party. Thank you all for coming, and we hope to see you very soon."

"Absolutely no doubt you will, Sirius. You're in the Ministry every other day," said Kingsley, and Remus and Hermione laughed.

"It's a hint that you should hire him, I think." Remus remarked.

"It's not a hint as outright begging," I chipped in, and Sirius gently bit my earlobe before his rumbling laugh sounded in my ear. "Seeing as he absolutely cannot wait to get me home, I'll see you all in a fortnight!"

Sirius smiled, and then we were in my flat, where he picked me up bridal-style and carried me into the bedroom. He placed me on the bed gently and crawled over me. Just as he was about to kiss me, I put my hand over his mouth and he looked at me with worried eyes.

"There's no threshold." I told him.

"We're not Muggles, that's why," said Sirius.

"True, but all those Muggle films Hermione got me into always has a threshold that a husband carries his wife over."

"I love you, Gin, but sometimes you make no sense." Sirius said. "Not only that, but you're killing the mood."

"Oops," I breathed, and I pulled his head down so that I could kiss him properly, pouring everything I had into it. A low moan ripped from my husband's throat, and the mood was officially back, I thought, as I began to ache with a need for him. I needed to be joined to him in the most magical, physical way. I leaned up to attach myself more firmly to him, and his arms snaked around my back to hold me where I was. After a minute, he pushed me onto my back, still kissing me, and let his hands drift to the sides of my satin dress. Sirius then pulled back slightly to trace a line of burning kisses on my jawline and down my throat. He hummed when he smelled my vanilla perfume, and continued on down to the apex of my breasts before his hands slid behind my back again to lift me forward and slowly undo each button on my dress, while I set to work on his robes. I yanked his robes down his arms just as Sirius had released the very last button to let the satin fall in a gold puddle in between us, and I smiled. I looked up at him to see that he looked like a hungry... well, dog. His hands drifted up and down the sides of my body slowly before he finally reached around my back and released the clasp of my black lace strapless bra, letting it drift as lazily as a feather in the breeze to join my dress. I knelt up, with my eyes still locked onto his as I removed my dress and tossed it on the floor and grabbed my wand to Vanish his trousers and shirt.

"I could have done that to yours, but it was more fun to take them off without magic." Sirius remarked quietly, silver mixing with chocolate. "You are exquisite."

"You're not so bad yourself," I said, winking at him. I divested him of his underwear and removed mine as slowly as he had removed my dress, feeling smug when his breath hitched in his throat. I had chosen the set especially, because they supposedly had a charm on them to make the wearer feel more sexy and confident. I wasn't entirely certain that I needed a confidence boost, because I had never been all that shy, even when I did the 'tell-all' interview with the _Daily Prophet_. When I did that, it wasn't for fame, it was to tell the whole truth about Sirius, so the world knew that it wasn't a big joke, that it was all honest and that _we_ were real. There had been mixed reactions to that, I was still seen as an outcast by some, but for the most part people had forgiven and forgotten, and though I couldn't go anywhere without having some sort of abuse hurled at me, I had my husband by my side through it all. Sirius and I were living a comfortable life because I was rising through the ranks at St Mungo's, steadily earning more money and being promoted. There were a lot of Healers, trainee and qualified, who weren't happy that I was so successful, but then they never dared to say it to my face. Despite the hate I had gotten from the world, I was still a War Heroine, and I was still powerful in my own right. However, I knew that whatever I faced at work, I could come home to Sirius and forget my troubles.

"Stop thinking," Sirius complained, "I don't want to have to fight for your attention. I'm here, in all my naked glory, waiting for you to decide that you want to have amazing, mind-blowing sex with me!"

I laughed at my husband, who with a pout on his perfect lips and his arms crossed over his chest looked like a little boy having a tantrum. I took his face in my hands and kissed him softly, and then cried out when he had pushed me onto my back so his fingers could find me. "I'm ready for that mind-blowing sex now!"

He pushed into me, and I was lost to the stars above.

* * *

><p>"Ginevra, honey, this is the third day in a row that you've been sick like this. Shouldn't you go an see a Healer?" Sirius asked me as I threw up violently into the toilet fourteen months after our wedding. I stopped retching in time to look up at him witheringly.<p>

"I am a fucking Healer." I said, and threw up again.

"Gin, I mean it, you need-"

"I know what it is. I don't need to see a Healer. I need to see Hermione." I said, taking shallow breaths as I tried desperately to settle my stomach. I looked up at my husband again. "I need Hermione, and I need a very specific potion that I only trust her to brew."

"I can brew it, I'm alright at Potions." Sirius objected, and I sighed.

"You've never made this potion before. It's about as hard to make as Wolfsbane, and I know that she's made this potion several times for a lot of different people. She's even made it for herself. I only trust her to make this properly. Besides, I need to double check with her that I'm right."

"Are you okay, love? Tell me the truth, is it bad?" Sirius asked me, taking my hands in his. His grey eyes were earnest, and he looked terrified. _So he should be_, I thought, _I am, so why shouldn't he feel it too? _I discarded the thought quickly.

"It depends how you look at it, but I need Hermione as soon as you can get her, alright?" I said, and Sirius nodded before running as fast as he could into the living room, presumably to Floo Hermione. Sure enough, a minute later, two pairs of running feet could be heard through my flat and the door to the bathroom was wrenched open. Hermione dropped to her knees next to me, and she gasped when she looked at me.

"Why in Merlin's name didn't you get me here sooner? Three days! There could be significant damage to your magic and-"

"I know, Hermione! I don't need a lecture, I need the potion. Just a minute though, Sirius, darling can you go to the market and get me some tomatoes? I think tomato soup would be a good start to help settle my stomach. Get the nice big ones that you got last time." I said, and Sirius nodded, kissed me on the head and left. A few seconds later, I heard the crack of Apparition. "Hermione, do the Charm."

Hermione pointed her wand at me and muttered an incantation. A glowing pink orb hovered menacingly above our heads and I scowled at it. "Well this is good news, isn't it?"

"No. I'm twenty-four years old. This is the end of my fucking life!" I exclaimed.

"Either way, he doesn't know, does he? You need to tell him, Ginny. It's not fair that he doesn't know, because this affects him just as much as you. You need to tell Sirius." Hermione said wisely, though I stuck my tongue out at her. I didn't want wise. I wanted to stop being sick. She handed me a phial of bright blue liquid and I looked at it for a moment before taking out the stopper and knocking back the liquid. It was scalding hot and it tasted absolutely vile, but it did the trick. No longer was I feeling sick, but I felt less weak as well. I grabbed my wand from the floor next to me and pointed it at my toothbrush. It was transfigured into a green skirt that looked exactly as I imagined it, and I grinned. My magic was fully restored – there wasn't any damage done. I transfigured it back into my toothbrush and put it in the glass on the sink.

"Tell me what?" asked my darling husband, poking his head around the door. I scowled at him and looked at Hermione pointedly, to which she got up from by my side, gave me a stern look and walked out the room, pushing Sirius in. "Ginny, what is it, what's going on?"

"Well... we're... I... well, I'm pregnant. We're going to be parents. It's a girl, Sir-" I said, but I was interrupted in the middle of saying his name by his lips on mine. He kissed me long and sweet, his lips only barely touching mine. After a while, I pulled back. "I've been throwing up repeatedly for about five hours, and you're kissing me? You must love me."

"Aren't you happy? This is amazing! I'm going to be a dad, Gin. We're going to have a proper family. Me, you, our little girl. It's going to be wonderful," said Sirius, his eyes shining. He was beaming, and his magically corrected and cleaned teeth stood out against his perfect pink lips. I wish I could have shared his excitement and happiness, but I was strangely disappointed. I didn't want a child. I was as happy as I could possibly be, what with the fact that there was still the odd person here and there who refused to let me Heal them, and that my mum had only just started being remotely civil towards me and Percy still refused to see or speak to me.

The fact that Harry and I were fairly close friends again had pulled most of the Wizarding World back around, for if Harry had forgiven me, I couldn't be that bad. Then again, he completely backed me up on everything I did. He'd reluctantly given a few interviews explaining everything, and after that, some of the Healers that had... disapproved of my working at St Mungo's had apologised profusely for not being professional towards me and started working more closely with me again. But still, it wasn't a world I wanted to bring a child into. I wasn't ready to have a child.

"You're not happy, are you?" Sirius asked, interrupting my thoughts. "Listen, I love you, and I'm ecstatic, but this is up to you. If you want to have this child, I will stand by you forever. If you don't want to, I'll still stand by you forever. I love you more than anything, and I may not be happy if you choose not to go through this, but I'm still going to stand by you."

I considered his words and looked down to my stomach. Without meaning to, my hand was covering the small bump, and Sirius warm, rough hand covered mine. "I don't want this Sirius, but I can't just... I think my body, my _magic_ is trying to tell me that I'm ready."

Sirius looked at me piercingly. His thumb rubbed my hand comfortingly. "I think you're right. You're ready for this, I know you are."

I kissed him on the lips gently. "I love you."

"I love you too. You're going to be a brilliant mum, Ginny."

"You think so?" I asked him, standing up to brush my teeth. My husband turned me around to face him.

"You will. Trust me."

"I do. I'm not going to be as good a mum as you will be as a dad." I told Sirius, and he beamed at me.

"I'm going to be the best dad I possibly can. I... can Harry be the godfather?"

"Yes. As long as Hermione's the godmother, I have no objections."

"Naturally. And Remus gets to be godmother as well."

"God_father_, you mean," I said, smiling.

"Oh no. Remus John Lupin is going to be my little Elira's godmother." Sirius said seriously.

"Elira? You're naming her already?"

"Gotta get in there early, love."

"Absolutely unbelievable," I said, stepping into Sirius' warm embrace. When he held me, it all felt better – like I could handle anything the world decided to throw at me.

"I love you so much." Sirius said.

"I know," I replied with a grin.

* * *

><p><strong>And that is that, I'm afraid. As soon as my exams are over, I'll get working on a sequel for you. So, if you have any suggestions, my inbox is always open to you. I'll take prompts for chapters if you want me to make it like ficlets of the rest of their lives, or just regular ideas if you want it to carry on much like this one.<strong>

**Again, thank you so much, and again sorry for the delay.**

**With love,**

**Lottie.**


End file.
